Living up to Expectations
by PteraWaters
Summary: An outsider's look at post-NFA Slayer Central. Will Rita find her place among so many superheros? Or will she fall before her time? OC-centered in my Vampire/Slayer Archives universe. Includes many Scoobies and Fang Gang members. T for language.
1. Louisville Slayer

_A/N: This is the beginning of my Vampire/Slayer Archives series – the first episode. Set in my Angel/Spike universe, you may want to go check out my rewrites of the last eight Angel Season 5 episodes to understand what's going on, starting with A Different Hole in the World. Though the rest of the series will revolve around the Angel/Spike/Buffy relationship, this one is outside-character centered, which I've had a lot of fun writing. This episode is rated T for language and a few situations, but be warned, the rest of the series will veer more toward hard M than anything else._

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The Vampire/Slayer Archives: Episode 1 – Living up to Expectations

Chapter 1 – Louisville Slayer

So, it all started with softball. I'd never been much good, but it was fun being on a team, hanging out with the girls, having people who would talk to me on a regular basis, having something to do during the summer besides sell shaved ice to fat tourists. Who never tip, even thought the tip jar is right there, begging to be filled, people!

Anyway, one day in softball we were playing against our rivals, the Reganton Rattlers, and I was up to bat. The midsummer air was stifling and the afternoon sun bright. We were two runs down, with one on second and just one more out to go in the fifth inning. I knew it was still the middle of the game, but it felt like everyone was counting on me. I couldn't let them down. Not Coach Drew, not my best friend Haley, and definitely not Penny friggin' Brown, captain of the team. Because I was beginning to suspect that even though I had a crush on Sean Davidson who was a year older than me, going in to senior year, and worked in the same lake-side refreshment stand as I did, I was also developing a crush on Penny Brown. And I thought growing up couldn't get any more confusing.

So, I was up at bat, wondering how badly I was gonna screw up this time, and this strange feeling came over me. An adrenaline rush, I thought. Oh, good! Maybe I won't fuck this up.

Sheila Hsu stepped up onto the pitcher's mound and I hefted my bat, praying the dust I kicked up with my feet shuffling for a grip wouldn't make me sneeze like last week. And then the ball was flying and I didn't even think. I didn't focus on how my hands rolled over one another as I swung, I didn't keep my eye on the ball, and I certainly didn't notice whether the ball was coming over the plate or not.

I just swung, shivering with rapturous glee and a rush of power when the bat made contact with the ball, shooting it up and out. Past the pitcher, over the shortstop and still flying. Urged on by the shouts from my teammates and my coach, I ran. I ran hard and I ran fast, catching up to Molly Drapinski just after third and waved on by the coach, following her in to home.

I had just hit my first home run! And it was fucking fantastic. For five joyous moments, I was everyone's hero. Coach Drew gave me a high five, Haley and the others hugged me, and Penny Brown smiled, raised her eyebrow and said, "Nice one, Nguyen!"

She knew my name! She knew how to pronounce my name! Even if she would never give me another thought, in that moment, it felt like enough.

Smiling like an idiot, I barely paid attention the rest of the game. I cheered and clapped with the rest of the team, but I couldn't even care if we won or lost. All that mattered was that I'd gotten a home run and Penny Brown had noticed.

I was up to bat once more, but fucking Sheila Hsu walked me on purpose. Another Rattler tried to tag me out on the way to third, bit I was just too quick. I'd never been quick enough to avoid getting tagged out, not when the ball landed so close in the outfield.

It was an amazing game and we ended up winning five to four. We lined up, shaking hands with everyone on the rival team, congratulating them on a good game. When I got to Sheila Hsu, I winked at her and smiled, confidence fueled by good luck and an awesome game. Sheila just scoffed and shook her head at me, moving on to Haley behind me as I shook the next hand in line.

Because I had to work that evening, I couldn't go out for pizza with the team, so I wandered away from the field, taking the walk back to my bike slowly.

"Hey," called a voice just as I was about to hit the parking lot, "you had a nice game!"

"Thanks," I said, looking back to face the speaker. She was a young woman, probably college age, maybe just graduated, and she had the most amazing hair. It cascaded down around her face and shoulders, a deep wavy golden brown that shone in the sun. And for Pete's sake, I was noticing way too much about this girl's hair!

"You're Rita, right? The one with the impossible last name?"

"Yeah," I answered, stopping to face her, patiently pronouncing it, "Nguyen."

"Tough break, sister," she said with a sympathetic tsk. "I'm suddenly glad my parents were white trailer trash."

"Yeah?" I asked, wondering whether or not she could tell that my mom was white. "What's your name?"

"Faith Lehane," she said, sticking out her hand to shake mine. A little hesitantly, I took it, almost gasping at the strength of her grip. "Nice ta meet ya, kid!" she smiled, and that smile just about knocked me over.

"You, too," I replied carefully. "Are you here with the Rattlers?"

"Who?" she asked raising an eyebrow. I looked back to the field, where a few stragglers were still packing up their things. "Oh! The dopes in purple? Nah, I'm just visiting."

"Okay," I nodded. "Well, I've got to go."

"Oh, sure. Don't let me keep ya." She waved me off casually, saying, "See you later, Rita!"

"You, too," I replied lamely, disturbed by how strongly my heart was beating against my ribs.

Later that night, after I'd walked home and showered, I rode my bike down to the lake, locking it up behind the Sip and Slurp, the unfortunate name of my place of employment. Inside, I was greeted by Sean with an apathetic wave and by the owner, Doug. "Okay, guys," he said as I strapped on my apron, "I'll be back at closing."

"Thanks, Doug," I said in parting, though I wasn't sure what I was thanking him for. Leaving me alone with Sean? Giving me the job in the first place? Whatever the reason, it was completely lame.  
Sean and I worked in relative silence, serving people done with a day at the beach and now strolling along the boardwalk, having dinner or just taking a walk. Eventually, though, things died down and I turned to Sean, asking him, "So, what's up?"

"Not much," he yawned, showing off those perfect teeth and that amazing jaw of his. It sent shivers down my spine just looking at him, which I really hoped I was hiding from him. "Got a text from Penny," he mentioned, brushing back his straight brown hair, which wasn't nearly as long as lost of the guys in school, a difference I found appealing.

"Oh yeah?"

"Said you scored a home run today!" he actually smiled at me, and an eager grin leapt to my lips in response. "Good goin', Vanilla!"

Sean had taken to calling me vanilla since the beginning of the summer, when I'd accidentally let the soft serve machine just go and go until the floor was practically covered in vanilla ice cream. God, I would never live that down, would I?

To continue the conversation, I asked Sean, "So, I didn't know you talked to Penny Brown."

"Oh, yeah," he scoffed. "All the time. I guess she's my girlfriend now."

"Is that so?" I mumbled, turning away to hide the crushed look on my face. Of course he liked Penny. Everyone liked her. Nothing was ever fair was it? Every day in school for ten damn years they teach you play fair, be fair, fairly graded, fairly earned. But outside? Life isn't fair.

Looking down, I suddenly realized that I'd picked up a metal spoon from the counter and bent it in half with one hand. How the hell had I done that? I couldn't even lift the bucket of ice to refill the soda machine by myself. And now I was bending spoons? I wondered if I'd done it with my mind somehow. My dad likes to talk about how there's more out there than science can explain and he's convinced his office is haunted. I wondered if this would count as one of his unexplained phenomena.

Carefully, I bent the spoon back, realizing it wasn't my brain, but my hand that had actually done the damage. What the hell was going on?

A quick rapping at my window startled me, putting my stomach up in my throat, agitating the many butterflies already flapping around in there. Looking up, I saw a familiar face behind the window.

"Well, fancy meetin' you here," Faith exclaimed, gaze flicking to the still bent spoon in my hand.

"Uh, hi," I said, slipping the spoon into my apron. "How can I help you?"

"Nothing for me. Thanks, slugger. But, I'm guessing I can help you."

"What? Are you a salesperson or something? I don't want to buy anything," I told her, wondering if Sean and I could get rid of this lady by ourselves or if I should actually call the cops.

"I'm not sellin' anything. I'm here to recruit you."

"What? Are you in a cult or something?" I asked suspiciously. "I'm not interested in that either."

"No! A cult? Do I look crazy to you, girl?" Faith laughed, offended I guess. "I work for a school."

"A school? You?"

"What? I don't look like the educator type?"

"Yeah. Uh, no," I changed my mind, blushing fiercely and wondering if I would get fired for shutting the window shutters in her face.

"That's why I'm out here, recruiting," she explained, "and not teaching all the girls how to tell their asses from a hole in the ground."

"It's a girl's school?"

"Yeah, primarily," she nodded, leaning on the counter and picking a straw up out of the dispenser. "It's a school for girls like us."

"What do you mean girls like us?" This was getting sketchier and sketchier. So why wasn't I getting rid of her? I suspected it had something to do with how she was chewing on the end of the straw she'd picked out.

"Girls who get home runs without even looking," Faith smirked. "Girls who can bend metal spoons with one hand," she nodded to my apron and I blanched, horrified. She'd seen me do that?

"I've never gotten a home run before," I confessed, hoping she'd made a mistake and would go recruit someone else.

"Ah," she nodded. "You look like a girl just come into her power today. Man, I've got good timing!"

"Yeah, awesome," I said, looking around behind her for someone else to serve, but there was no one. "I'm not interested in your school."

"You will be!" she teased playfully, slipping me a pamphlet with a business card stapled to it. I read the top of the pamphlet, "Summeridge Academy for Girls."

"Is this just for the summer? Some sort of extra college prep or somethin?"

"No, it's all year round," she shrugged, pointing to a business card stapled to the brochure. "Read it over and give me a call when you're ready to talk about it."

"Sure," I nodded uneasily, watching as she flounced away, her jeans really too indecently tight.

"What was that about?" Sean asked, and I hastily shoved the pamphlet into my apron pocket.

"Oh, nothing," I insisted. "Nothing at all."

* * *

Before heading home after closing, I sat in a pool of light next to the Sip and Slurp, and decided to read the pamphlet. With pretty pictures and ambiguous wording, it was quite generic and I couldn't figure out how exactly I was qualified for this school. My grades were only okay, I wasn't a music prodigy or anything, and I certainly wasn't a sports star. Why would they want me?

And then I found out that the school was in Scotland. I didn't know how to feel about that. On the one hand, it would be nice to get out of this small town, get out of Oregon and go see more of the world. But on the other hand, I'd be leaving all my friends and family behind.

Which, given how much my parents were fighting these days, actually sounded kind of nice. Maybe if I left, they'd actually consider getting a divorce. I mean, my brother Stacey was already out of the house, working at some bar in Chicago to pay his way through law school. Flipping through the pamphlet again, I noticed the line that said, "All attendees are provided with tuition, room and board through grants and endowments". After some thought, I worked that out to mean that my parents wouldn't even have to pay to send me away. And now that Sean and Penny were seeing each other, I found I didn't really care to stay. The only person I would miss was Haley, but she'd been spending so much time with her boyfriend lately, I barely got to see her anyway.

After I'd decided to ask my parents if I could go, I realized this was probably too good to be true. Why would they recruit me? Why was the recruiting agent for this Scottish school an American? Why didn't they charge tuition? I sighed and folded up the pamphlet, stowing it in my pocket as I approached my bike.

Suddenly, two guys appeared out of the shadows and I repressed the urge to shriek. Why hadn't I gone home right away? Why had I let that stupid pamphlet distract me? "Stand's closed, guys," I managed to say loudly, hoping they wouldn't come any closer. Both were wearing leather biker jackets, had big looking shoulders and arms, and scruffy hair. One even had a moustache that was big and dark and scary looking.

"We're not here for the soft serve, sugar," the one on the left (without the moustache) said, sneering at me in a way that had my heart beating a million miles a second. And then his face _shifted_ into something monstrous. His brow got really big and bumpy and when he smiled at me, I could see big fangs where his canine teeth should have been.

I couldn't help it. I screamed. I screamed bloody murder and fumbled to get my bike unlocked, looking back only once and noticing that the other guy's face had changed, too. And then they were on me, the first guy picking me up by my hair. "Get off me, you freaks!" I yelled, kicking back at him and hitting him in the knee. Surprisingly, he groaned and let me go, hobbling back a few steps.

"What's wrong, Earl?" his friend asked, keeping his eyes on me so I couldn't escape.

"I think this one's a slayer," he growled through all those pointy teeth (because now I noticed that it wasn't just his canines that were deadly looking). Slayer? What was that?

"I've heard their blood is really choice," the mustached man crowed, licking his lips. Blood? Ew! "Wanna find out?"

"Yeah, she doesn't look so tough," he said, standing up straight and looking me up and down. "Probably one of the new ones everyone's talking about these days. We can take her."

What were they playing at? They could definitely take me! I was a sixteen year old girl and they were two big, burly men. Just three weeks into summer vacation and this was it. I was gonna die.

"Hey Chip and Dale," a woman's voice called from the shadows, "think I look tough?" And then Faith stepped into the light, and I'd never been so relieved to see anyone in my entire life. But even as toned as this girl looked, there was no way she could save me from these goons. Could she?

"You must be Faith," said the first monster, growling at her.

"You've heard of me?" the woman cried, smiling like she'd just won the lottery. "I'm touched!"

"You dusted my Sire, bitch!"

"Oh, so sorry! Was it mommy or daddy that got the pointy end of my stake?" she smirked, casually moving between me and the monsters. Behind her back, she let something slip from her jacket sleeve and pressed it into my hands. Looking down, I realized it was a wooden stake! Which means these goons must be vampires. True, honest-to-God standing in front of me vampires! Maybe I fell off my bike, hit my head, and I was just hallucinating all of this. I hoped beyond reason that this was the case.

"My sire was Helen Bauchner, Lady Death of the South!"

"That Anne Rice wanna-be who wore way too much makeup?" Faith replied with another laugh. " I think I did you a favor there, buddy."

With a wordless screaming growl the _vampire_ attacked, his friend only a step or two behind. Faith fought them almost effortlessly, blocking their blows and striking out at them with incredible force. I watched breathless from the side, standing next to my bike and wondering if now would be a really good time to run away. But I couldn't just leave Faith here by herself, could I?

A few moments later, moustache guy had Faith knocked down and was trying to stomp on her head while the other one came after me. I couldn't help it. I screamed again. When I ducked away from the guy, screams silent for a moment, Faith shouted at me, "Use the stake!"

"What?" I replied, confused and dodging the guy the best I could.

"That weapon in your hand! Put it in his heart, short bus!" she cried, finally catching the other vampire's foot and twisting it so he belly flopped onto the pavement.

"I don't know how!" I told her, unsure how I could even think of speaking to someone with this guy after me. My breath was coming in desperate pants, I was sure my heart was trying to escape my body through my mouth, and my long black hair was everywhere, including in my eyes.

"Sure you do, honey," Faith grunted, tackling her vampire and sitting on him, punching him in the back of the head repeatedly. "Just stab him, pointy end first."

Shrieking again as I dodged the vampire, wondering how on earth I was doing it, I turned the stake in my hand, holding it point down, because that seemed better than accidentally poking myself in the eye with it. As the vampire came at me again, I set my feet like at home plate and screamed at him, swinging my arm down and at his chest. The wood punched into him easier than I thought possible, and suddenly the vampire exploded into a cloud of dust. "What. The. Fuck," I panted, coughing as I inhaled some of the dust.

I turned back to see how Faith was doing, and she pulled another stake from her boot, driving it into the guy's back, falling down a few inches when he turned into dust under her, just like his friend had.

Shaking uncontrollably, I dropped the stake, noticing the way it clattered away across the pavement, and sank to my knees. Letting out a deep breath, Faith picked up the stake, fitting it back under her sleeve and knelt down in front of me. "Good going, Oregon!" she praised, clapping me on the shoulder. "No one hits the heart on their first try!"

"What," I asked, starting to hyperventilate, "the _fuck_ just happened?"

"You, missy," she smiled, taking one of my hands in hers, "are a bona fide Vampire Slayer!"

"A who, now?"

Faith laughed, standing and helping me to my feet. "Just calm down, Rita. Take big, slow breaths. There you go! I know. It's always a shock when you're first told you've been called."

"Called for what, exactly?" I managed to ask, still using Faith's hand to support myself as I took deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"To fight back against the evil things in the world. Things like those vamps. See, no one else is equipped to deal with them."

"What are you?" I asked her, pulling my hand away from her and leaning back against the bike rack so I wouldn't topple over.

"Also a Slayer," she nodded. "Got called up when I was just a little younger than you."

"So you've been doing this awhile?"

"Longer than I'd care to admit," she laughed, sticking her hands in the pockets of her summer jacket. "You and your bike want a lift home?"

"I don't know," I eyed her suspiciously. "I don't know you."

"Oh, Christ," she giggled. "I just helped take down those vamps for you and you're worried about taking a ride home? Let me tell you, sweetheart, now that you've been called, more of those things are gonna find you. They're drawn to the slayer energy or somethin'. So, I don't want to leave you out here alone until you're ready to deal with them on your own."

"I'll be able to fight like you?" I asked her, suddenly drawing to the conclusion that if I was what Faith claimed I was, this could be very interesting.

"If you come to the school," she nodded, watching as I unlocked my bike and wheeled it towards her.

"Right. The school. So it's not too good to be true?"

"Not for you, Rita," she insisted. "You're one of us now and you need to learn more about what it means to be a Slayer. We've got a whole curriculum and everything, so you'll be able to graduate and then decide how you want to use your abilities from there."

"I'm…" I started, following beside her, presumably to her car. "I'm just overwhelmed."

"I get that," she said, approaching a pickup truck. "Why don't you sleep on it? I mean, you don't have to come, but you'd probably be safer if you did, if that makes any difference for your decision."

I nodded and Faith drove me the mile and a half home in silence. When I hopped out of the cab and lifted my bike down from the back, I noticed the bike was a lot easier to lift that it had been just a few days ago. Fuck me, I _was_ stronger! As I walked the bike past the passenger window, Faith opened it and called out to me. "Don't invite inside anyone you don't know! They could be a vamp!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously!" Faith smiled. "I'll be back in the morning to see how you're doing, maybe talk to your parents?"

"Okay," I waved to her, wondering what the hell I was getting into.

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_I hope you like Rita. It's always a little difficult coming up with an original character, but I think I've got the basics of her personality down. Please, review if you get a chance and let me know what you think._


	2. Persuasion and Excursion

Chapter 2 – Persuasion and Excursion

"Alright," I told Faith the next day when she showed up at my house. "You've convinced _me_. Now you've got to convince my parents."

"Not a prob," the slayer replied with a smile, tying her hair up into a bun and slipping on a stylish pair of glasses. "Where are they?"

"Mom!" I called back into the house. "Dad! There's someone here who wants to talk to you."

"What?" my dad said, coming up the stairs from his basement workshop. It used to be that he only spent a few hours on the weekend down there. But lately? He retreated down there all the time, building things and fixing things that never worked, and I'm not quite sure they were ever supposed to.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Nguyen," Faith greeted him, her manner much more polite, sticking out her hand so he could shake it. "My name is Faith Lehane, I'm here to talk to you today about young Rita. She's been admitted to our school, the Summeridge Academy. _I'm_ here to talk you into it."

"Is this some sort of scam?" he asked warily, looking back as my mother joined us from the kitchen.

"No, sir," she insisted, keeping up her proper act. God, even her Boston accent disappeared into something more respectable. "And you must be Mrs. Nguyen."

"Jensen, actually," my mother replied, shaking Faith's hand and giving my dad a little look. They think I don't see these things, but I do. It was one of the reasons I wanted to leave, so I wouldn't have to walk around on eggshells anymore.

"Of course," Faith nodded, handing each of my parents a folded piece of glossy paper that I recognized from the night before. "This brochure will give you a better understanding of what our school is all about."

"School?" asked my mother, glancing the paper once over and giving me a hard look. "Rita, did you apply to this school? In Scotland?"

Knowing my mother is one of the most pragmatic and no-nonsense people I've ever met, I lied and said, "Yes."

Faith gave me a knowing smile and agreed. "We were quite blown away by Rita's application. She'll fit right in at our institution."

"What exactly _qualifies_ our daughter for your school, Ms Lehane?" my father asked, his voice implying that he knew there wasn't anything I was particularly good at. Thanks a lot, Dad.

"Now, I know this is a lot to take in all at once, but may I come in?"

"Yes," my mother nodded, leading the woman to our front room, pointing her to the big couch against one wall. She eyed Faith suspiciously for just a moment before asking, "Is your school accredited?"

Nodding, Faith replied, "Fully accredited by the British Independent Schools Council."

"But," my father muttered, sitting down in one of the armchairs, "I don't understand how she got in."

"Your daughter has had," Faith said, putting great importance on each of her words as she spoke them, "great _potential_ for some time now. And now, it's time for that potential to be realized. Our school can help her do that."

Giving me an askance and still skeptical look, Mom said, "And how much do you think we're going to pay for this supposed opportunity?"

"Nothing," the slayer assured her. "Rita has qualified for one of our educational grants. All of her tuition, room and board, and travel expenses are covered."

"Wait a second," this time it was my Dad, reading the brochure, "it says here that your school was established just last year."

Clearing her throat and giving him a big smile, Faith explained, "While this is true, our school was built to take over, in spirit, from the Watchtower Academy in Oxford, a thousand-year-old institution which was destroyed by an unfortunate explosion eight months prior to our opening. Our board of directors, many of whom are from the Watchtower Academy, is quite experienced at providing a high level of education, and we've recruited excellent teachers from around the world."

My dad looked almost impressed at Faith's explanation and shrugged at my mom, his opinion obviously changed. Now it was just a matter of convincing my other parent. "We'll have to think about this," Mom said after a moment's silence, standing so that Faith would do the same.

"Of course, of course," Faith agreed, nodding deferentially. "But we would like Rita to start as soon as possible. Our summer classes will make sure she's fully prepared for the vigorous year ahead."

After seeing Faith out, my mom and dad turned to me, sitting me in the hot spot on the front room couch. The two glared at each other for a moment before Mom asked me, "Did you really apply to this school?"

"Yeah," I replied, thinking the previous night's escapades probably counted as a good application for a Slayers' School.

"Why?" Dad asked this time, going through the brochure once more.

"Because," I sighed, thinking. They knew I wasn't super smart, they knew I wasn't super ambitious and the only hobby I'd had growing up was gardening. In short, they knew I was nothing special. Some parents believe for way too long that their kids are special and deserve every possible opportunity they can get. These were not my parents. Finally, I concluded with, "Because I thought it would be nice to get out of Oregon for a while, to get out of this house for a while. I never really thought they'd accept my application." Hell, I was expecting to get a letter any day now that said, "Oops. We didn't mean to accept _you_."

While I was contemplating my sure future humiliation, my parents shared a long look. They'd been having so much trouble lately, it seemed like they were always arguing. I wasn't supposed to know, but I did know that my Dad had had an affair with someone. One of Mom's friends, I think. And I wondered, did they stay together because they wanted to work things out, or did they stay together because of me? I mean, Mom's not perfect either, despite the image she projects to the public, to people like Faith. But now, my parents shared a look that held an entire conversation, I was sure.

"I'll have to make some calls first," Mom said. "My friend Garrett should be able to tell us whether or not the school is legit."

Nodding and turning to me, my dad asked, "Are you sure you want to study so far away? You haven't even finished high school yet."

I thought that over. Could I get by being so far away from everyone? Did I really have a choice? Faith had shown me what I was, what I could do. And a big part of me wanted to see that through. I wanted to know everything, no matter what the cost. And just about anything seemed better than spending two more years in my parents' house, watching them slowly crumble apart. Nodding, I told them, "I'm sure."

"She's sure," Dad told Mom, and that was that. I was going to Scotland.

When my mom heard back from her friend, I got the go ahead to call Faith, opening with, "They said it was okay."

"Great, Oregon!" Faith replied. "I'll send you a plane ticket."

"Where are you?" I asked, trying to listen to the noise in the background over the phone.

Practically hearing her bright smile, Faith said, "Oh, don't worry about me, Brown-eyes. On to the next assignment and all. I'll see you when I stop by Scotland next, alright?"

"Yeah," I said, a little disappointed that she wouldn't be coming with and scared that I really would be on my own. Then, I wondered if she'd really liked me, or if her act was all part of the recruitment schtick. "What would you have done if they said no?"

"It's better if they agree on their own."

"And if they hadn't?"

Sighing, Faith moves somewhere with less noise in the background and said, "Look, Rita. You're a Slayer now. You're one of us and you're tough. I wish I could go with you, I really do. But I've got another girl to scoop up. She's only ten, Rita. She needs me more than you do, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

"You'll love the people there," Faith said. "I promise."

"So, see you later?"

"Yeah," Faith said, laughing a little so I couldn't help but smile. "See you when I see you, Slayer."

The plane ticket Faith sent arrived in the mail two days later – a flight from Portland to Cleveland scheduled for two weeks later, so I could have enough time to say goodbye. Saying goodbye wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Mom helped me pack a suitcase with most of my clothes and some of my favorite knick-knacks. Halfway through, she gave me a framed photo of my brother and me at his college graduation. "So he can go with you," Mom whispered as she handed it over.

"You'll come visit during family weekend?" I asked them when my parents dropped me off at the airport.

"We'll s –" Mom began, but Dad cut her off.

"We'll be there, make a trip of it."

I nodded and walked away, looking back once to see my parents holding hands. They hadn't done that in so long, I found myself surprised, And as I went through security and got on the plane, I found myself smiling.

In Cleveland, I was met by a town car driver holding a sign with my name in big black letters, who took me to another airfield where I boarded a plane with the Summeridge Academy logo emblazoned on the side. How the hell did a school that didn't charge tuition afford its own plane?

There were just two other people on the plane when it took off, besides the pilots: another girl my age who said her name was Jenny and a college boy named Grayson Thewley the _Third_. She was California cool with deep brown skin and the most fashionable clothes, and he was wearing an impressive suit that screamed East Coast royalty. What the hell was I getting myself into?

When we landed in Scotland, a tall guy with black hair and a rakish eye patch met us on the tarmac. "Hello my American compatriots!" he cried with a bright smile. "Welcome to Scotland! I'm Xander Harris and you should feel very honored to have me here! I don't often make pick-up runs to the airport anymore!"

"Ignore him," a short blonde woman shouted from beside the car behind Xander. "He's just boasting," she continued walking toward us with a smile, "because you're new and haven't realized how lame he is." I noticed as she approached that she was considerably shorter than anyone in the group. Yet somehow, she emitted this air of cool authority or power, despite her sunny attitude and small stature.

She stopped in front of us, standing beside Xander and introduced herself. "I'm Buffy Summers, the principal and founder of Summeridge Academy."

"But you're so young!" Jenny blurted out. Looking closer, I saw she was right. Buffy wasn't that much older than me. I guessed, about the same age as Faith – early or mid twenties.

"Oh, believe me," she laughed. "I feel a lot older than I look. I'm in charge of the Slayers," she turned to indicate the man at her side, "and Xander's in charge of the Watcher half of things."

"What's a Watcher?" I asked, finally finding the courage to speak up.

"That's what young Mister Thewley is here for," Xander smiled, holding out a hand to indicate Grayson.

"So it isn't a girl's school?" Jenny asked, looking almost relieved.

"There are a few male specimens here and there," Buffy answered her. "C'mon. Let's get moving. Diane wants us home for dinner."

"It's always about food with you, Buffy," Xander prodded her shoulder with his finger as they turned and led us from the airplane and toward a minivan emblazoned with the Academy's logo, which I recognized from the pamphlet Faith had given me.

"Shut up!" she shouted back, pushing him away with a giggle very much like a teenager's. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad.

Xander drove the van and Buffy sat in the passenger seat, turning around to face us as we drove. "So, Rita?" she asked me, looking back to where I was seated behind Xander.

"Yes?"

"Remind me where you're from again?"

"Oregon," I replied, trying not to be bashful. She was so pretty, and obviously a California girl, if the comparisons to Jenny's accent were right.

"Right!" she said, suddenly excited. "You're the one who dusted a vamp on your first try!"

Grayson, who was sitting next to me, looked away from the window, giving me an impressed glance before returning to his post, watching the scenery go by.

"Uh, Faith told you about that, huh?"

"She indeedy did!" Xander spoke up. "Nice goin'! That's no easy feat!"

"Really? Faith seemed pretty good at it."

"Faith," Buffy began with a compassionate tone in her voice, "has almost as much experience as me. And we both missed the heart the first time we tried."

"Woah," I breathed. There's no way I could actually be good at something, was there?

From the back seat, Jenny muttered, "Beginner's luck," but I don't think Buffy heard her.

"So you're a Slayer, too?" I asked Buffy, getting her attention back from the road ahead of us.

"One and only original Slayer," she replied with a nod. "Accept no substitutes." Xander murmured something that I didn't catch and Buffy said, "Right! Orientation!"

Shuffling herself so she could see us all better, Buffy began, "We're headed to Slayer Central, as those of us in the know like to call it. Diane Svenson's in charge of the castle, so she'll get you all settled in and fed. Just a warning, though: she's proud of her job and she's one of the best slayers we have, so don't cross her if you value your life." When she paused, Xander gave a knowing chuckle, like he'd been on Diane's bad side too often. "There are bunches of teachers for regular classes and special subjects and you can feel free to ask any of them whatever you want."

"How will we know who they are?" I asked her.

With a grin, Buffy replied, "They're the ones who look like they know what the hell they're doing!" I chuckled in response. Buffy was amazing and I was really starting to like her. Glancing back, I could tell that Jenny wasn't so impressed, but she was probably just being a snot.

"Anyways," Buffy continued. "We also house a lot of Slayers who are finished with schooling and training. They're sort of like our military – protecting the school, going out on missions to fight evil and so on." She took a breath looking up to the ceiling as if trying to remember what came next. "Oh, yeah! We've got two resident good-guy vamps. Don't freak out and try to kill them, because I will not be pleased, and you will probably get hurt. I don't think you'll see much of Angel, but Spike is in charge of combat training, so you'll all be sick of him before too long."

"You'll be sick of Peroxide-brain within two minutes!" Xander added.

Buffy responded by shaking her head and telling me conspiratorially, "Spike's not that bad. He's a big softie once you get to know him."

"Sure," I nodded, eager to meet all these people Buffy was talking about because they seemed so much better than the people I'd left behind.

* * *

I was not disappointed. When we pulled up to the Academy, it was an honest-to-God castle, with towers and everything. "How Hogwarts," I commented as Xander drove the van up the switchbacks to the front gate, which opened almost like a giant garage door when he pressed a button on the dashboard. We parked in a building to one side of the courtyard, which already had quite a few cars in it.

As we unloaded our things from the back, Xander said, "None of these cars belong to you, so don't even think about touching them. Lots of them belong to the company, and you'll have to pass a test before Angel will even consider giving you the keys."

"He still won't let me drive," Buffy pouted, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"Buffy," Xander replied, "you're, like, the worst driver there's ever been. It's no wonder he won't give you the keys."

"One of these days," she said jokingly, waving us to follow them out of the garage and up to the main entrance, "I'm going to have Spike teach me how to hot-wire a car. Then we'll see who Miss Doesn't-Get-to-Drive is!"

"Which car would you take?" Xander asked, playing along with her joke. I found myself grinning along with them, feeling somehow included, even though Xander and Buffy were just talking to each other and leading the way.

"Angel's car, duh," she smiled, pointing back at a bright blue sports car as we passed it on our way out of the garage. "Can you imagine how fun that thing would be to zoom around in?"

"I don't have to imagine," Xander replied, with a grin that implied he'd already driven it, earning a smack on his arm. "Ow! Buff, sometimes you forget your own strength!"

"I barely touched you!" she laughed, and I found myself laughing quietly along with her. Oh, if this school was anything like the orientation so far, I was going to love it here.

* * *

Diane Svenson was a tall blonde woman who reminded me a lot of a much younger, much nicer, version of my mom. She showed me and Jenny around, leaving Grayson to Xander's care. Buffy said she'd see us later and went off to do her own thing. So we saw the kitchen and the big dining room that looked more like a huge school cafeteria, only with real stone walls instead of cinderblock. The rest of the downstairs was a series of classrooms, most of which had girls and a few boys in them, either listening to the teacher or goofing off or sleeping in the back.

Diane then led us into the basement, bidding us to watch our step as we spiraled downward. At the foot of the stairs was a small area with two doors leading from it. Diane pointed to the one on the right, and said, "That door is the dungeon. We keep students who misbehave in there."

"Really?" Jenny asked, for once losing her apathetic attitude and showing something like apprehension.

"No," Diane laughed. "We keep demons and things in there, for certain lessons. So don't go in there at all. Ever."

"Right," I nodded. "Got it."

Shaking her head at the mortified look on Jenny's face, Diane led us to the door on the left. "This one leads to the Training Room," she said, hefting it open by the big ring that served as the doorknob. "You'll be spending a lot of time down here."

She led us into a big open space which looked a lot like a dungeon, except that the ceiling was higher than I would have thought and was lined with those industrial fluorescent lights, giving the room a bright, if surreal, appearance. We had to walk down a flight of stairs to get to the main level, where a lot of activity was going on.

At the far side of the room was a lot of fitness equipment, weights and gymnastics-looking things, but closer to us there was a huge open space covered in blue padding. And in the center of that padding, fighting off eight girls, was a man with bleached blond hair. He was wearing dark jeans, combat boots, and a tight black t-shirt that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

When he saw us, he threw the girl that jumped at him to the ground and stumbled away from the fight, coming up to us and saying in an anything-but-stuffy British accent, "Heya, ducks! You must be the new recruits." He was panting a little, but had a bright smile on his face, highlighting his sharp cheekbones and brilliantly blue eyes. His eyebrows were medium brown and much darker than his platinum blond hair, their arch completing his happy expression.

I flinched when a red-headed girl rushed at him, but he just ducked like he knew she'd been coming up behind him and, grabbing her arm, swung her back toward the rest of the girls like she weighed almost nothing. "Nice try, cupcake!" he called back before sniffing and putting his hands on his hips. "Name's Spike. Who're you, then?" Spike? The vampire Buffy had told us about? No wonder he'd been so strong.

"Uh," I stuttered, giving him a little bit of a wave and noticing how his wiry arm muscles stood out when he stood like that. "I'm Rita Nguyen."

"American, luv?" he nodded.

"Yeah, we both are," I replied, finding his brisk and almost happy-go-lucky attitude intimidating, not to mention the scary strength he'd shown when he threw that girl a good ten feet across the room. Looking past him as Jenny introduced herself, I saw that the redhead was up on her feet, grinning as she whispered with a girl who looked Middle Eastern. Their body language definitely said they were up to something.

"Welcome, welcome, pets!" Spike smiled at us again. "I s'pose I'll see you for lessons tomorrow, yeah?"

I looked up to Diane, who nodded, so I turned back to Spike and nodded in kind.

"Ta, then," he said with a final nod, walking backwards towards the group of girls and falling onto his back on the padded floor, just in time to duck a wooden stick swung by the redhead. In one continuous movement, he kept rolling back over his head and onto his feet before being socked in the face by the Middle Eastern girl. "Oh, bloody hell," he laughed before spitting what looked like a mouthful of blood onto the floor. "Got me good, Slayer! Nice teamwork!"

Diane shook her head with a laugh and led us back up to the main floor, and then up further. "Most of the sleeping quarters are on this level and the one above," she explained, bringing us down a hallway and pushing aside a tapestry to reveal another set of stairs. If not for the lights tacked to the stone wall, the stairway would have been pitch black. With the lights on, it was upgraded to mostly dim. When we got to the next floor, it was much brighter due to big windows on either end of the hallway and I could tell this floor was much smaller than the previous ones. "This is the Northern Wing, where both of you will be staying."

Really hoping Jenny and I wouldn't be staying in the same room, I asked Diane, "Is there a Southern Wing?"

"Indeed," she said, stopping in front of a small door. "But that is where the boys live," she winked at me. "Jenny, this will be your room." Oh, thank god. I wasn't staying with her.

"Does it have a number or something?" the dark-skinned girl asked, looking up and down the hallway at all the identical looking doors.

"No," Diane replied simply, like it was a question she got all the time. "But feel free to decorate the door to make it your own." She pushed open the door, revealing a small but bright room with a twin-sized four poster bed, a big dresser with a mirror above and a desk just under the window. Jenny's bags were already in the center of the floor and there was another door beside the dresser, which Diane said led to a shared bathroom. "Two girls per shower," she nodded. "Better than my old dorm!"

"You went to college?" I asked her as Diane and I left together to go find my room.

"Yes. I got through two whole semesters at Oslo before I was called."

"And then you left? Came here?"

Nodding, Diane opened another door, about five or six down from Jenny's, showing me in. "Those first few months were really dangerous for us Slayers. There were these _detestable_ priests who kept trying to kill us. So it was better to come here and learn how to defend myself. And then I just got used to it here," she shrugged, sitting down on the bed and watching as I explored my new room. I knocked before opening the bathroom door, but there was no other door leading from it.

"I get my own?" I asked Diane, just about jumping in glee when she nodded.

"Don't tell the others, but some of the rooms don't share a bath. Faith said she really liked you, so she asked me to give you nice, ah, 'digs' she called them."

"Wow! Thanks!" I said, pulling out the desk chair and sinking into it. "I can't believe all of this is paid for already. I was expecting standard-issue dorm furniture," I said, thinking of Stacey's dorm when he was a freshman at Washington State, "but this shit is nice!"

Diane chuckled and I wondered if I should apologize for swearing. "Will you be okay unpacking until dinner?" she asked.

"Yeah," I nodded. "But is there a phone somewhere?"

"No landlines for international calls except in Angel's office. But a friend of Andrew's rigged up the whole place with wireless internet."

"Fancy," I said, more and more impressed and wondering who this Andrew person was. "But I don't…"

"Look in the desk," Diane said with a smile as she stood up and left the room.

Curious, I opened all of the desk drawers until I found a laptop and a power cord in one of them. "Sweet." Soon I was e-mailing my parents and my best friend, telling them I'd made it to Scotland in one piece and was really excited about everything. As I finished unpacking my clothes into the dresser and showered to wash off the stink of traveling, I wondered what dinner with the rest of the school would bring.

* * *

_Reviews very much appreciated!_


	3. Collision

Chapter 3 - Collision

Most everyone I met in Scotland was super nice to me, though the first night was the scariest, walking into the dining Hall, getting my food from the kitchen, and knowing absolutely no one there. The room was huge, with tall ceilings, high stained glass windows and gray stone walls. There were dozens of cafeteria tables, with fake wood veneer over the particle board, and hard table-long benches that were attached. Just like any school cafeteria I'd ever been in. That was something familiar at least.

What wasn't familiar were the hundreds of faces spread out across the room, sitting in groups as small as two or three or as large as a full tables worth. Just like any other school cafeteria. And I knew no one. Until a girl with mousy brown hair saw me and waved me over.

"You look new," she smiled, scooting down the bench to make room and introducing her friends. I couldn't remember anyone's name as I focused on the girl's accent, trying to recognize it. I did pay attention when she said, "…and I'm Aubrey."

"Rita," I nodded, taking the seat that was offered.

"Nice to meet 'ya," she said, and I finally figured it out. Her accent was Australian. And there were many others all across the table. By the end of the night, I knew a few names, a lot more faces, and I left the dining room feeling a lot better, if overwhelmed.

To find my way back to my room, I wandered around through the hallways by myself, wondering whether or not I really wanted to be alone right now. Sure it was intimidating meeting so many people at once, and sure I felt like I needed a breather, but I should have taken the girls up on their offer to show me around. Now they were gonna think I was some loser who didn't need friends. Maybe I could just blame everything on the jet lag and start over tomorrow. That sounded nice.

As I passed one of the classrooms, I heard crying, sobbing really. Who could be so sad here? Letting my curiosity get the best of me, I stuck my head into the room, pushing the door open just a bit. But when it creaked, the girl looked up, her face bright in the light from the hallway, and the rest of her body lost to the shadowy classroom.

"Uh," I said, trying to think of some excuse and failing. "Are you okay?"

Sniffing and wiping the tears from her face, the girl, who looked older than me (mid-twenties, maybe), said, "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks."

Getting curious, probably impolitely curious, I asked, "Did someone die?"

"No," the girl replied, shaking her head. "Not this time. I just fucked up."

"We all fuck up sometimes," I told her, trying to be wiser than I felt.

Fighting back the tears even further, she stood and turned on the classroom lights before saying, "You must be one of the new recruits Xan and Buffy picked up today."

"Rita Nguyen," I replied, sticking out my hand so she could shake it, ignoring the dampness of her palm against mine as we shook, and then discreetly wiping my hands on my pants.

"I'm Willow," the girl introduced herself. "Willow Rosenberg."

Trying to think of something to talk about, I asked, "Are you a slayer?"

"Oh, no," she replied, scoffing almost in embarrassment. "I'm a witch."

"For real?" I asked her, incredulous, I'm sure.

Chuckling and sitting down on one of the student desks, Willow nodded, "For reals, yo." I burst out laughing at how ill-fitted those words sounded on her voice. "No?" she asked, joining me in a giggle as I sat down on another desk, facing her. "Yeah, I suppose you're right, Rita."

We sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments before I said, "Do you want to talk about it? How you fucked up?"

"I don't know," she replied. "You're brand new. And you're going to be one of my students."

"I get to learn magic, too?"

"Not unless you really want to learn. I teach math. Or, I guess since we're in Britain, _maths_."

"Oh," I nodded. "Well, I can keep a secret with the best of them. Lay it on me."

Shrugging, Willow sniffed once more before saying, "Kennedy broke up with me."

"Your boyfriend?"

"Girlfriend, actually," she said, watching my expression as I nodded carefully.

"What did you do? To make her break up with you?"

Sighing, Willow gave me another long, assessing look before she said, "I spent too much time away. I didn't … Maybe I wasn't ready yet. But you make it through a war with someone, you think it's going to work out, you know? Happily ever after."

"There was a war?" I asked, wondering if this was what Diane had been talking about earlier when she mentioned it being dangerous for the first few months.

"There was," she nodded. "In Sunnydale, we fought together and I thought this time. This time, it was going to last."

"But it didn't," I pointed out.

"No," she shook her head, and I cringed at the thought that she might start crying again.

"Then I guess you need more than winning a war together."

"Yeah," she agreed, giving me a long look. "How old are you, Rita?"

"Sixteen," I told her. "Just turned."

"You speak and feel like an old soul."

"Uh. Thanks?"

Smiling, Willow stood, wiping her eyes one last time as she left the room. "I'll see you in class tomorrow, sweetie. And thanks for the talk."

"Anytime," I told her, watching as she left, giving her a good head start before I left to go find my room again, thinking about how I'd left home to avoid drama like this.

* * *

Classes the next day were fine, fairly easy since it was midsummer and mostly the teachers were just getting everyone caught up to the same level before the school year started. I liked most of my teachers, especially since hardly any of them were older than thirty-five. But they were good, knew what they were talking about, and kept the class' attention the whole time. My history teacher, Mr. Winthrop, had a stuffy British accent that was really different from Spike's. I saw Willow again, sharing a knowing smile with her before she assigned me a fuck ton of algebra problems to work through in the next week. And I'd thought we were friends!

After Willow's betrayal, I decided my favorite teacher was a woman named Fred. I know, weird name for a girl, right? Apparently it's short for Winifred. And yeah, if my parents had named me _that_, I would have picked 'Fred' over 'Winnie' any day. Fred taught science, but it was unlike any science class I'd ever had. My first class, we ran experiments on a plant, that was also a _demon_! Seriously! I got to measure its leaves and flowers, dodging the thorns it spat out every few seconds. Nothing in my mother's garden had ever been this interesting. And then, Fred said that the next day, we would be testing various poisons on the demon plants, to figure out how to best kill them out in the field. I couldn't wait.

My classmates were mostly girls, but there were some boys mixed in. All the Slayers were girls, for some reason, but the students who were there to learn how to be Watchers or magicians were either girls or boys. I _noticed_-noticed one boy, Trevor MacManus, and a couple of the girls, including a Jamaican girl named Hannah. So that was still the same, grr. At least I could talk with the other girls about boys truthfully. Almost instantly, I became friends with Aubrey, whose last name I quickly learned was Truman, as the teachers yelled it often enough when she got into trouble. I loved listening to her accent and learning how to curse down under style. And she and I had the same sense of humor, which made classes a lot more fun.

The class I had the hardest time with was actually the combat training. Even though people kept talking about how I was a natural and had already dusted a vampire, I couldn't quite seem to do what Spike asked of me. Maybe it was because of all the expectations. He didn't ask too much of me that first day, but I still left the classroom with a body full of bruises and an earful of insults. Nope, I definitely didn't care for his teaching style.

* * *

It was only my second day at the castle, when I came upon a scene that told me again that this school wasn't quite as perfect as it seemed to be. I was still jet-lagged, and unable to sleep, even though it was the middle of the night, so I wandered around the castle. I saw a few people – girls – who were probably watch guards, but nobody stopped me or asked me where I was going.

I'd actually always been prone to wandering around at night, and maybe now that I knew I'd always been a potential slayer, it made sense. When I asked Willow why I'd been called as a slayer right then, while I was up to bat, she said, "I don't know, sweetie. I did the spell, but I'm not really sure how it works."

"No inklings whatsoever?"

"Well if I did have inklings," she smiled, raising her eyebrows high on her forehead with a mischievous look, "I'd have to say that some Power – one of the Powers That Be – likes you. I'd say that you've got a fate, and though my spell allowed you to be a slayer, it was destiny that chose you."

So, here I was, wandering around the castle in the middle of the night, full of destiny and insomnia, when I heard angry voices down the hallway. Approaching them, I saw Spike, Buffy, and two other men in one of the offices, arguing. One of the men was young, and quite handsome, and the other one was middle-aged, about the same as my parents, I'd guess. I felt a little uncomfortable about eavesdropping on such an intense argument, but I couldn't help it. I wanted to know what I'd gotten myself into, what really happened here at Slayer Central.

The older man did most of the yelling, and briefly, I wondered if he was Buffy's father, the way he admonished her.

"I refuse to believe you're of sound mind, Buffy," he said, his British accent more cultured than Spike's. "You never listen to what I have to say, do you?"

"I _do_ listen," she insisted, amending the statement when Spike scoffed with laughter, "most of the time. But I'm old enough to make my own decisions, for Pete's sake! _You_ put me in charge of this operation, so I've got to be at least a little sane, right?"

"But to …" the man began, but was unable to finish his thought. "I don't know if I can stay here in the castle and watch this travesty unfold."

"But," Buffy protested, "you _promised_! We need you here, Giles, and not just as the librarian." Librarian? That man looked about as much like a librarian as a panther.

"But –" the man named Giles protested again, fury deep in his words and his angry posture, cut off by the man I didn't know.

"We don't even know if things will get that far, Giles. We're taking it one step at a time, and I've got Spike watching out for me every step of the way."

"That's right," Spike nodded, stepping closer to Giles. "I'm up to the task, mate. Probably the only one strong enough." Giving the older man a harsh look, he added, "And don't you dare start prattling on about morals, up on your high horse, _Ripper_." Spike emphasized that last word in a way that I could only recognize as lewdly. What the hell was a ripper?

Suddenly surprised and a little ashamed, Giles spoke once more, saying, "If things go badly, I will do what is necessary, without hesitation this time."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Buffy replied with a nod, watching as Giles approached the door.

My heart hammering in my chest at the imminent danger of being caught spying, I scampered away from the office, hiding in one of the doorways down the hall and listening to the man called Giles storm off in the opposite direction, thank God.

As I stole back toward the North Wing, I realized that though I'd heard my parents arguing from time to time, and I'd seen fights in school, I'd never seen so much emotion packed in one room before. This Giles man was so _upset_ with Buffy, which I couldn't understand. She was so nice and charming. How could she be up to something that would anger this man so much?

And what did Spike and this other man have to do with it? Spike was the only one strong enough to watch over him? Was there something evil coming to the castle? I'd learned a little bit about vampires and demons since I'd met Faith a little over two weeks previous, but I knew, just _knew_ that there was so much more under the surface that I didn't yet understand.

* * *

One day a few weeks later, during combat training, the shit really hit the fan. I was sparring with an older girl named Yvette and kept trying to get past her defenses, to hit her like Spike was urging me to. "Just fucking hit her already," he yelled, trying to goad me into striking out. I'd seen how it had worked on the other girls, making them angry until they lashed out, letting the violence go and giving in to instinct.

"I _can't_," I told him, trying my hardest to get the jump on Yvette, but she just couldn't make it easy on me.

"Don't whine, duck," Spike teased me, "it doesn't suit you. You can do this. Remember the moves we practiced last week."

"Fuck you," I said, dropping to the ground and kicking Yvette's legs out from under her. She didn't go all the way down, but she fell back onto one arm before pushing herself back up.

"Not good enough," Spike said with a chuckle.

"Then _you_ do it," I replied, eyes tearing up as I stalked away from the matted area.

"Get back here!" he yelled, and I could hear the laughter of a few of my classmates, two girls who grouped together and made snide remarks about everyone when the teachers weren't looking.

I'd almost made it out of the room before Spike caught up with me, grabbing my arm and saying, "I'm trying to keep you alive, Slayer. Most vamps out there are better at fighting than Yvette, even. Not to mention all the other nasties."

"I don't care. I'm done for today!"

"Okay," he said, backing off and letting me go. "Okay, duck. You go have a cry and cool off and we'll see you tomorrow."

"I'm not gonna cry, damn it!" I replied, though I'm sure I already was. I made it up the stairs and slammed the heavy door behind me, satisfied with the echoing bang. Running up the steps two at a time without watching where I was going, I ran into someone at the top, almost losing my balance and falling back down the steep stone stairs.

"Shit!" a male voice above me whispered, and a big hand shot out, catching my arm and pulling me onto solid ground before I could fall. "You okay?"

I nodded, "Yeah," and looked up, into the most gorgeous brown eyes this side of a Johnny Depp movie. I recognized the man from around the castle, and from that second night, when I saw him arguing with Giles, but I didn't know his name.

"You sure?" he asked again, "'Cause you look a little …" he grew kind of awkward, which was endearing somehow, "upset?"

"Spike's just being an ass," I muttered, turning away from him, but drawn back by his laugh.

"Oh, Christ! What did he do this time?"

"I know he was just trying to get me to do my best, or whatever," I said, opening up to this guy, even though I'd just met him. "But I guess I'm just too defective to respond to insults like the rest of the girls."

"He insulted you?" the man asked, sounding actually concerned for me.

"Yeah," I nodded, watching his face as his brow drew into a disapproving frown.

"Don't worry, uh…?" He paused, waiting for me to fill in my name, which I did. "Rita. Don't worry, I'll talk to Spike, with my fists if I have to."

"Who are you?" I asked him, wondering who could possibly stand up to someone as strong as Spike.

"Angel," the man replied with an encouraging smile before he disappeared down the stairs. Angel? Oh, one of the other in-house vampires. How could a vampire look as alive as that man? And as deliciously handsome?

Oh, crap! Pull it together, Rita. You can't keep crushing on everyone who crosses your path, even if you never get a date in your life.

* * *

Later, I was studying in my room when Aubrey came to find me, knocking on my door before just opening it and stalking in. "Hi, Rita," she said, flopping down on my bed. "I heard you had some trouble in combat training today."

"God," I muttered, "does the whole school know about my little meltdown already?"

"Yeah," she nodded, turning over so she could lie on her stomach and look at me. "Especially since apparently Angel came in and yelled at Spike, right in front of everybody."

"He did that?" I asked, abandoning my homework and joining Aubrey on the bed, flopping down next to her. "I mean, I ran into him and told him what happened, but I didn't expect him to keep his promise to yell at Spike for me."

"You _talked_ to Angel?" Aubrey asked, like I'd grown a third head.

"Yeah, why? Is that a bad thing?"

"No!" she laughed, giving me a smile. "It's just he tends to avoid us students."

"What's his story, anyway? Buffy told me when we first got here that Angel was one of the good vampires, like Spike. What does he do around here?"

"Victoria Newman told me that Dawn Summers told her that Angel was in charge of all the money. He like, invests it or something, and all of us live off the proceeds."

"Huh," I said, thinking about running into him earlier. "He smells nice," I told her.

"He _smells_ nice?" she laughed, nudging my shoulder with hers. "What are you now, one of _them_?"

"No," I replied, horrified because I knew that Aubrey meant vampires when she said 'them'. "I just noticed when I bumped into him, is all."

"Rita!" she cried, playing at being scandalized. "Do you have a crush on a _vampire_?"

I sighed, nodding. "I'm so pathetic, Aubrey. Maybe if I get a real date, I won't keep crushing on random people who are way too old and way too dead for me."

"At least you're not one of the millions of girls who have a crush on Spike."

"Spike!" I exclaimed, giggling. "Ew! But he's, like, a _teacher_!"

"He's younger than Angel, according to my sources," she said, with a smile and I joined her in giggling at that thought. "But seriously, Reet," Aubrey said when we stopped laughing. "How are we going to get you a date? There are absolutely _no_ eligible boys around here."

"What about Trevor?" I asked her, putting his name out there.

"I heard he was dating Bao," she shook her head.

"That Chinese girl? Who can barely say two words of English?" I asked her.

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "But at least if they ever break up, we know he's into Asians."

"I'm only a quarter Vietnamese, Bree," I told her, once again.

"But it shows, sweetie. At least you've got a distinctive look. I just look like last week's oatmeal."

Though I laughed, I pulled my mouth into a moue of sympathy and said, "Oh, that's just not true!"

"I wish I had straight black hair like yours," she said, picking up a lock of my hair and combing it out with her fingers. I almost caught my breath at how nice it felt having someone play with my hair. But I wanted it to be someone I was attracted to, and not my best friend.

"Maybe," I said, swallowing my discomfort and concentrating on relaxing, "we should dye your hair. Make it something just as distinctive as mine."

Aubrey giggled. "I've always wanted to try blue!"

"Blue?" I laughed, turning to look at her face, trying to imagine it. "Yeah, Bree. I think blue would work for you. Maybe we'll look for some dye next time we get to go to the mall."

"I can't wait to see Danny's expression when he sees me!" Danny was Aubrey's twin brother, who had signed up to be a Watcher when Aubrey was called. She says he didn't want to be left alone with their father, who wasn't the nicest man, if my impressions about him were right. "Hey!" she practically shouted as she got up from the bed, turning to face me excitedly. "You should go out with Danny!"

"No! No, way, Bree!" I said, mortified. I sat up to watch her practically bounce around my room with excitement. "I love you to death, but your brother is vile!"

"Is not!" she pouted. "He's just a clown. You like funny!"

"In a friend. Not in a person I want to date."

"What sort of attitude is that?" she asked, sitting down at my desk and opening one drawer after another. "How are you going to have fun on a date if the guy is a boring stiff?"

"I'm not saying I want to date someone like Grayson Thewley," I laughed. "But someone more serious than your brother would be nice. Someone like … Angel," Aubrey laughed at me again, and I slipped out there, "or Hannah Lewis."

"Hannah Lewis?" Aubrey cried. "But she's a girl!"

"I _know_ that," I said, looking down at my hands and wishing I hadn't said anything.

"Oh," she said, nodding quickly with a glint in her eye. "As long as you aren't under the illusion she's got something extra under her skirt." I stared at Aubrey for a second until she burst out laughing, and I couldn't help but join her. "If you really like her, Reets, I could do a little recon for ya."

"Recon?"

"Find out if she likes girls, if she likes you," Aubrey smiled.

"You'd do that for me?" I was astonished. I mean, I knew she was a good friend, and she barely had boundaries as I knew them, I didn't expect her to take this news so well. But Aubrey just rolled with it, and I was grateful yet again that she wanted to be my friend.

"Only if you promise to help me dye my hair, and don't laugh at me when it's done."

"_Fine_," I said, like it was going to be a huge chore, when in fact I was looking forward to it. "We can use my private bathroom."

"Thanks, Rita!" she cried, hopping onto the bed next to me and giving me a one armed hug. "Shall we go get something to eat?"

"Sure," I said with a smile, happy with my friend, but absolutely terrified of what would happen if Hannah Lewis actually liked me back.

* * *

Aubrey did said recon at dinner and came to the conclusion that Hannah Lewis was obsessed with boys. Apparently she was the million and first girl to have a crush on Spike, even boasting to Aubrey about grabbing Spike's "bits" during a sparring bout.

"She _didn't_!" I cried when Aubrey told me, impressed and disgusted at the same time.

"Bethany swears up and down she saw it happen," my friend insisted.

"Oh, god! What did Spike do?"

"Just ignored it apparently, went on with the lesson."

I giggled and looked up to the head table, where Spike was sitting between Buffy and Willow, talking animatedly in between sips of what must have been blood. Angel sat facing them, sitting next to Fred, drinking his own pint of blood. As I ate, I couldn't help but stare at the back of his head and wonder what it was like to be bitten by a vampire. I was in the beginner's Supernatural Studies class, taught by a twitchy guy named Andrew, and we hadn't gotten to vampires yet. At this point, all I knew was how to kill them. And apparently, I couldn't even get that right.

Still angry with Spike, I turned my eyes to him, so I could glare in his general direction, and saw him lean over and kiss Buffy's neck, making her giggle and shy away before letting him put his arm around her shoulders. "I didn't know Buffy and Spike were dating," I told Aubrey.

"What?" she asked, looking up from her food and across the room to where my gaze was lying. "Oh, yeah. I'd heard that rumor, looks like it's true."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I've heard rumors that Buffy's been seeing just about every guy over the age of twenty in this place. Spike, Angel, Xander, Andrew, some of the teachers, even Giles."

"Giles!" I cried. "Ew! He's old enough to be her father."

"Looks like Spike's the lucky winner though," Aubrey finished, looking down the table for someone. At my inquisitive look, she said, "Danny said he would help me study for my math final."

"Yeah," I said, standing and picking up my tray. "I've got an English essay to finish. I'll be in my room if you need me."

"See you later, sweetie," Aubrey waved, finally spotting her brother two tables down. As I put my dishes away so they could be washed, I took one last look at Angel, admiring the perfect profile of his brow, chin, and nose before leaving the room. Hey, if Buffy was a Slayer and she was with a vampire like Spike, who's to say Angel wouldn't want me?

Okay, just about anyone with eyes and a brain. Sighing, I leapt up the stairs to my room, admiring how I never got out of breath anymore. At least there were some perks to being called.


	4. Besotted

_A/N: I've posted the last three chapters in rapid succession, so make sure you haven't missed one!_

_Also, this is pretty much the last part I wrote while I was finishing up "The Brothers in the House". Further chapters will be less frequently forthcoming._

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Chapter 4 - Besotted

A few weeks later, in early August, I sat working in the library, putting together a research paper for my Supernatural Studies class and wondering how much more Hogwarts my life could get without robes and a wand. Needing space to work, I had one of the big tables to myself, computer in one corner and stacks of books and papers covering every other surface.

Giles always hates it when people take more than one or two books at a time, but I decided screw him and his stodgy British attitude and had about a dozen books on various subjects piled up around me. I was really getting into a passage about this demon that had big oozing antlers, wondering if this guy would make a good subject for my paper, when someone cleared his throat beside me.

Frowning at being interrupted, I looked up and found Angel standing over me. I'd been watching him and staring at him whenever I could since that first incident on the basement steps. And even though I'd only seen him a grand total of five and a half times, every incident was as exciting as getting a Christmas present. And now he was here, standing over me and looking down at me with those intense brown eyes and those lips that I just wanted to … Oh, crap!

"What?" I managed to squeak out.

Angel smiled kindly and said, "Uh…, sorry. I've forgotten your name."

Of course he had. Why would I be important enough for anyone to remember my name? "Rita." I managed to spit out after a few tries.

"Rita! Right, I knew that," he nodded, clutching the table and crouching down beside me. Oh, god. He was so close, I could barely think. "I'm sorry to bother you, Rita," he said, keeping his voice low because of the other students studying, but I pretended it was because he wanted to speak to me privately about something, "but I need one of the books you've got here."

"Huh? Book?" I asked, squeezing my eyes shut to clear my head. "I mean, sure. Which one?"

"Gideon's Demon Guide," he said, pointing to the book in my hand. "I'm really sorry to interrupt your studies, but I need a quick look at it."

"Right!" I said, a little too loudly for the library. I started to hand the book over, but then stopped, ripping a small piece of paper from my notebook and marking my page so I could find it again when he was done. "Here."

"Thanks," he said, taking the book from my hands, and I was disappointed when his fingers didn't brush mine. I turned back to my work, but then Angel sat down to my right, his chair perpendicular to mine at the same table! He opened the book to my marker first, chuckling when he read the heading in a whisper, "Chaos demons!"

"You know them?" I asked him, in a responding whisper.

"Somewhat," he said, a sparkle of humor in his eye. "Don't ever mention them to Spike, though."

"Why not?"

"Because his ex left him for a chaos demon."

I giggled, imagining Spike losing a girl to a demon that looked like a buck walking on two legs, his antlers oozing stinky mucus everywhere. "Ew!"

Angel actually laughed in response as he flipped to the section he was looking for, reading it quickly. I tried to turn back to my work, but I ended up just watching him as he read. He was so beautiful, it made my heart hurt. Physically _hurt_ just looking at him. Aubrey told me he got his name because he was a demon with the face of an angel, and I have to admit, I couldn't disagree. I didn't know a whole lot about religion, but my Grandma Jensen had a painting of the archangel Gabriel visiting Mary. In her painting, Gabriel wasn't a cute little cherub, but a terribly beautiful man. Not unlike this one.

I accidentally sighed out loud and when Angel looked up at me, I quickly dropped my eyes to my work, writing random words from another book in front of me. Oh, God! He'd seen me, hadn't he? Mortified and probably blushing (damn the Nordic half of my heritage), I kept my eyes on my paper, only sneaking a few more peeks at the vampire from the corner of my eye. After just a few minutes, Angel cleared his throat and closed the book.

"Thanks," he said, standing up and handing the book back to me.

"No problem," I choked out, watching as he walked away and wondering if the thundering of my heart would ever return to normal.

While my head was still clearing, I organized my notes, hoping I wasn't too affected to read them all properly. I had just gotten them stacked into three neat piles, when someone bounced up to me and settled in the chair Angel had just left. When I looked up, I saw a girl, maybe a little older than me, with long brown hair.

"Hey!" she said, a bright smile on her face.

"Hi?"

"I'm Dawn and you're Rita, right?"

"Uh-huh," I nodded before making a connection. "Dawn Summers?"

"Don't let the last name get to you. I'm a lot nicer than my sister."

I laughed, trying to keep it quiet because we were still in the library. "Then, you must be the nicest person in the world."

"Okay, maybe not _that_ much nicer," she conceded, rolling her eyes. "How are classes going?"

"Good," I replied, wondering why Dawn wanted to talk to me. There were hundreds of other girls around. Oh, well. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, I continued, "Except for combat training. I suck at that one."

Dawn laughed. "Yeah, I suck that one pretty hard, too."

"But I'm supposed to have this natural ability, or something. I'm a slayer!"

"Well, sure," she nodded. "But I've seen lots of slayers trained, and everyone sucks at the beginning. That's why there are Watchers. To teach them."

"Is that what you're studying to be? I mean, you've graduated already, right?"

"Yeah, a year ago. But now I'm working my way to top of the class in Giles' Watcher Academy."

"Nice," I replied, wondering where this conversation would go next. "Not to be rude or anything, but are you here for a reason?"

"I need a reason to chat?" Dawn asked with a smile that said she was kidding. "But you're right, I'm here for a reason."

"Which is?"

"So, I was sitting over there," she pointed. "Doing my homework and I noticed Angel was sitting with you."

"Yeah," I nodded. "He needed to look something up in one of the books."

Dawn said, "Okay. I'm here because you look a little besotted."

"Besotted?" I scoffed, trying to deny it. "You've been spending too much time around all these old books using words like that."

Dawn laughed, admitting, "I really have. But I just came to tell you that Angel is off the market, so whatever besotted-ness you have is only ever going to be a crush." Her tone was gentle and friendly, so I guessed she was trying to save me some heartache. Too late.

"Really?" I asked, and I should have known. Everyone I liked was either a girl who didn't like me back, or a boy who was already seeing someone. "Who is it? Is he yours?"

"Oh, _god no_!" she exclaimed, covering her mouth and giving Giles an apologetic look. "I mean, I used to like him, when I was really young, but now he's like family. And I'd really like to tell you, but there's sort of an unwritten pact among students."

"What's that?"

"To let the newbies find out who Angel's dating on their own. It's sort of a game, or a rite of passage or something stupid like that. How long have you been here?"

"A little less than a month," I told her. "You seriously won't tell me?"

"Nope. Sworn to secrecy," she giggled. "And usually it doesn't take this long."

"Maybe I haven't been seeing it on purpose," I guessed. "Sometimes I don't notice what's right in front of me."

"Yeah, that could be it," she nodded. "Just keep your eyes peeled, because some of the older students like to lord it over everyone else that they know who it is."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that there was someone, so don't get your hopes up as far as Angel goes."

"Thanks, I guess," I replied, still confused as to how a rite of passage like this had gotten started.

"Oh, and if you want, I could help you with combat training, since I know what it's like to suck big time."

"Really?" I asked, giving Dawn a bright smile. "You'd do that for me?"

"Sure. Besides, it's good practice for my Watcher practicals. Give me your number, and I'll text you."

"Don't have a phone," I muttered. "Or, I did, but it doesn't work here."

"Your email, then," she said, giving me a pen and her hand to write on, which I did.

"I'll let you know when I've got some free time in the next few days."

"Thanks, Dawn," I said as she got up to go back to her work.

"No problem, Rita," she smiled, bouncing away and gathering up her things before leaving the library, giving Giles a little fist-bump on her way out.

* * *

  
Later that day, I had science lab with Fred. "Alright, people," she said, bringing the room in line. "We've got a busy day, so sit down and shut up."

I chuckled a little and sat, earning me a weird look from Aubrey. As discreetly as possible, I passed her a note that said, "What?" but my friend just shook her head at me.

"Today," Fred continued, "We'll be continuing our Biology theme and getting you guys ready to move on to Physics when the school term starts. So, what are some of the main principles of life? What do living organisms do that makes us define them as alive?"

"Eat stuff," someone called out.

"Yes, Jeremy. You are correct," Fred nodded as she wrote on the whiteboard "Consumption."

"They reproduce," I said, earning another nod from Fred and catcall from the back of the room.

"Yes, Rita. Reproduction is essential to the life cycle." The teacher wrote this on the board, stopping when someone knocked on the door. "Oh, hi, Xander," Fred greeted him, and I could practically hear her blush.

"Sorry to interrupt Miss Burkle, but if I could borrow you for a moment?"

"Of course," she nodded, turning to us and saying, "Be good," before stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind her.

"If I'm not mistaken," Aubrey drawled at me, "those two are doing a little mating dance of their own."

"You think?" I asked her, wondering why Xander had come by class. But then, Fred came back into the room quickly, shedding her lab coat and hanging it on the back of her office door.

In a voice so unlike hers normally was, this time all deep and authoritative, Fred told us, "Class is dismissed, children."

Sticking his head back in the room as Fred passed, Xander said, "It's safe to say classes are canceled for the rest of the day. If you're on reserves, report to your team leaders, if not, take your things up to the dorms and wait there until further notice."

As he left, and I started gathering my things, an alarm sounded throughout the building. "What's going on, Aubrey?" I asked my friend, watching her gather up her thugs in a hurry.

"Emergency situation," she said, handing her bag to me. "I'm on reserves, Reets. Can you take care of this for me?"

"Yeah, sure," I agreed, watching as my friend left the room at a run, along with several others. Turning to another girl at my table, I asked, "Does this happen a lot?"

"Only once since the beginning of the summer," she replied, shaking her head.

As I made my way up to my room, the castle felt different than it had at any point in the past month. Girls huddled together, whispering. People sprinted down corridors, footsteps thudding and voices yelling, "Out of the way!" And once the alarm stopped blaring, everything became quiet and empty.

Since everyone was gone or busy, I didn't really feel compelled to finish my homework like I should have. So I wandered around for awhile, trying not to get in the way, getting roped into carrying things back and forth for a little bit, and making my way down into the dungeon as a means of escape.

The training room sat empty and unlocked when I got there, so I trotted down the steps and set to work making my way through the pieces of equipment on the far side of the room. Hey, if Dawn Summers wanted to help me improve my fighting, I felt like I should at least put in a little extra effort. And, the more I practiced with Dawn and on my own, the better I would get and the less Spike would yell at me in class.

I spent a couple of hours down there, alone before calling it quits and gathering my sweater, wondering if there was anything left for dinner, or if I just had to scrounge around in the kitchen on my own. Stomach rumbling, I had just left the room and gotten to the little foyer before the stairs when I heard shuffles and curses coming down them.

"Watch it, mate!" I heard Spike hiss. "This thing's gotta be in top shape for tomorrow."

"Hey," another male voice, young, replied, "I'm not the one who waited until the night before to finish my homework."

"Homework?" Spike cried, sounding offended somehow. "You know, I'll be relieved when you go back to California. Grab his foot! His foot!"

"Yeah, I got it, Spike," the boy said with a chuckle. "And you know you're gonna miss me."

"Yeah," Spike admitted. "But don't tell your dad that. He's already got too many reasons to think of me as some sentimental poof."

"You _are_ a sentimental poof," the boy laughed, his back coming into view down the spiral staircase. He was carrying something big and slimy and alive, backing down the stairs slowly.

"Fuck you, Connor!" Spike replied indignantly, but as he rounded the corner, carrying the other half of the creature, I saw he had a bright smile on his face.

"Not even if you paid me," Connor replied easily.

"Uh," I spoke up now that they were both in the room with me, "do you guys need some help?"

"Oh, hey, duck," Spike greeted me and now I could see that he had his hands hooked under the arms of a demon that looked like a cross between a pig and a jellyfish, if something like that could walk upright. "Yeah, could you open the door to the dungeon, there?"

"Isn't it locked?"

"Oh, yeah," he muttered, transferring his load to one hand and digging around in his pocket before throwing me a set of keys. Proud of myself when I caught them, I headed toward the dungeon door.

"Bollocks, it's slipping!" Spike cried, shuffling to catch the burden.

"No!" Connor yelled at him. "If we drop it, slime will explode everywhere!"

"I know that, you prat," the vampire grunted back, but the creature was so slippery, he was having a hard time getting it back under control.

So, leaving the keys in the door, I slipped around to the lowest side of the creature, letting it come to rest against my arms and chest. "Okay," I muttered. "Now what?"

"Nice save, princess," Spike grinned. "Just watch out for the poisonous barbs 'round its hands."

"If I could figure out what the fuck its hands looked like," I replied, "I'd take your advice."

Connor laughed and asked, "What's your name, slayer?"

"Rita," I replied as we started walking toward the dungeon door. "It's nice to meet you."

After many curses and much shuffling, we managed to get the demon locked up in the first cell after the door I'd unlocked. I wanted to look into the rest of the cells, wondering what made the noises coming from further in the darkness, but Spike warned me off, saying, "Nothing down there for you, Slayer."

"So," I said, as Spike locked the door behind us and Connor brushed some stray slime out of his floppy brown hair, "Do you guys know what's going on? Where everyone went?"

"What?" Connor said, catching Spike's eye.

"Did the sirens and all the blinky lights go off?" the vampire asked me, and I found myself surprised that he had an expression for genuine concern.

"Yeah," I answered slowly.

"Fuck," he swore, running up the stairs, Connor close behind him and I followed as best I could in third. "Fuck, fuck, bloody fuck. Angel is gonna kill us."

"Hey," Connor shot back as we reached the main floor, heading past all the offices and toward a room that I'd only heard about – the Command Room. "I'm only loosely associated with this whole operation. I'm not the one in trouble here."

"But it's your soddin' fault we got back so late."

"Excuse me for actually being _alive_ and not being on a liquid diet like _some_ people." I noticed the words were harsh, but as I caught up with Connor and got a look at his face, I could tell he was only prodding Spike in fun, because he could. It reminded me of how my brother Stacey treated me.

"What happened?" Spike called as he burst through the doors, Connor and I right behind him. "Where's the Slayer?"

"Which one?" asked Xander, standing up on a platform in the middle of the room, surrounded by about a dozen flat-screen monitors. He was wearing a headset and clutching a sheaf of papers, nodding every now and then. There were a few more people around the room, all women – slayers, probably – speaking into headsets like Xander's.

Jumping up onto the platform, Spike growled, "You bloody well know which one, whelp. And Captain Forehead? Where are they?"

"Calm down," Xander replied. "They're fine. Everyone's on the way back, no thanks to you."

"Hey, you said you'd _call_ if anything happened," Spike pushed the man lightly, but it made Xander stumble and turn on the vampire with a one-eyed glare.

"I did call!"

"What?" Spike cried, pulling a cell phone from his coat pocket and jabbing the buttons viciously. "There's nothing, fuckwit. Nothing!"

Snatching the phone from the blonde's hands, Xander pressed a few more buttons and snarled, "There! Look."

"Oh," Spike said, taking the phone back sheepishly and stowing it away again. "Uh, if Angel asks, could you say you never called?"

"No."

"I hate you."

"Likewise," Xander replied, turning back to his monitors as Spike stormed from the room, pushing Connor and me aside as he passed.

Turning to the boy across from me, I asked him, "Is it always like this?"

Smiling, Connor ushered me from the Command Room, saying, "You have no idea."

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_Don't forget to review!_


	5. Shaken Faith

_A/N: Okay, so I lied. Here's another chapter that I just finished. Hooray breaking 300,000 words posted on FFnet! Let's say we go for a million, hmm?_

_Have fun reading!_

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Transposition Chapter 5 - Shaken Faith

The next day, when I asked Aubrey about all the alarms going off, she said, "I'm not sure what happened, Reet. But I heard that a girl, a new slayer like us, got killed."

"Was there a battle somewhere? Was she on the reserves like you?"

"No," Aubrey shook her head. "Jamie Halliwell told me that she hadn't even been recruited yet. And then, whoever did it?"

"Yeah?" I asked, leaning forward to hear the rest of the story.

"Sent a group of demons into her town, and they almost destroyed the whole thing. Fred deciphered Faith's SOS code, and then she and Buffy and Angel got there as soon as they could, but most of the town was just _gone_."

"Is Faith okay?" I asked right away.

"I think so," Aubrey nodded, "she's in the infirmary now, so she's not dead in any case."

"Was it scary being on the reserves?"

"Totally," my friend nodded, her eyes wide. "While most of the trained slayers were gone, we had to guard the castle. I thought I might have to actually put my training to use and _kill_ something."

"But you didn't?"

"No, nothing happened while they were gone."

"Man," I said, letting out the breath I'd been holding during her story. "I wish I was on the reserves. Though I did get to help Spike and Connor lock up a demon some of the older girls were using for practice this week."

"Who's Connor?" Aubrey asked, obviously intrigued.

"I don't know, exactly. He's a college kid just here for the summer, and I guess his dad works here, but I'm not sure who that is."

"You didn't ask?"

Scoffing and rolling my eyes, I replied, "It didn't seem polite, Bree."

"Was he hot?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "He was nice."

"Nice?"

"He reminded me of my brother, okay? Can we lay off the third degree?"

"Sure," my friend nodded with a laugh, backing off. "There's just so few boys around…"

"Yeah, I get it," I said, standing up. "I'm gonna go visit Faith. Do you want to come with?"

"Nah," Aubrey replied, following me from my room and closing the door behind her so I could lock it. "I've got work to do. See you at dinner?"

"Sure," I agreed, making my way down to the medical wing.

I'd never been inside, but I'd known where the doctor was since the first night Diane had shown me around. I'd thought once or twice about going in and asking for ice or an ace bandage after a particularly painful combat training class, but I didn't want to be _that girl_. The one who can't hack it. The one who whines about getting hurt and asks someone to fix it. I wouldn't be her.

So walking into that area of the castle, after avoiding it for a month, was kinda weird. Looking around as I entered, I noticed that it looked almost exactly like a miniature version of the emergency room I'd gone to after breaking my wrist when I was ten. There were four beds, with curtains drawn around two of them, a desk, a few counters and sinks, and lots and lots of cabinets.

"Hi, there," said a man, a doctor by his coat and the stethoscope around his neck. "How can I help you?"

"Um," I said, noticing as he approached that his eyes weren't quite normal. His pupils, instead of being round, were oblong, like a cat's. "Uh, is Faith still here?"

"I'm afraid so," he nodded, his smile oddly comforting despite his odd eyes. "Shall I see if she's up for a visitor?"

"Yes, please," I replied, noticing the tiny bumps all around his hairline. What was this guy? Was he really supposed to be here? Andrew had said that some demons, like vampires, were almost like people. Had one really become a doctor, here at Slayer Central?

The doctor shuffled away, behind one of the curtains, speaking softly and then returning to sight. "You can go on back," he told me with another one of those comforting smiles. "I'm Dr. Jerry if you need anything."

"Thanks … Dr. Jerry," I said, smiling at him, though I couldn't have told you why. I guess he was okay, for a demon.

"Hey, Oregon," Faith cried when I saw her. "How's it going?"

The slayer lay propped up in her hospital bed, one leg in a heavy cast, suspended from a bar above the bed with a sling. "Better than for you, I'd guess."

Laughing, she said, "Take a load off, sister. Tell me what's what."

"I suck at life," I told Faith, making her laugh and smile brightly.

"Oh, that's not true, is it? You're just finding your way."

"My way straight into flunking out of here."

"Hey," Faith said sharply, grabbing my chin so I would look up at her. "You'll get there, Rita. It just takes time."

"How long did it take you?" I asked her. "I mean, everyone around here seems so fucking perfect. Except they're _not_."

"It took me three years and a trip to the women's penitentiary," Faith replied, nodding when I shot her a questioning glance. "So being here, trying? It's better than _that_."

"Yeah," I agreed, grudgingly. Sighing, I asked, "Did someone, a girl like me, really die yesterday?"

Faith looked down at her hands then, picking at them as she nodded sadly. "I didn't get there soon enough."

"Is it just you out there, finding slayers?"

"There's others," Faith told me. "Giles was helping for a while. But whoever's after you guys this time, he's _mean._ And hella strong. I barely got out of there alive."

"What do you mean, 'this time'?"

Sighing again and resettling herself on the bed, Faith said, "Look, kid. I'm no storyteller. If you want that, go ask the little dweeb. Andrew."

"I'm sorry," I said, with a sad laugh, standing up to go. Andrew was definitely a dweeb.

"Oh, hell, Oregon. I didn't mean to snap. I just hate being stuck here, you know?"

"Yeah," I nodded, sitting back down when Faith eyed the chair I'd just left. "I know what that's like."

* * *

As summer came to an end later in the week, and Faith left again to go find and protect other new slayers, I realized just how far behind I was in all my catch up work. The teachers wanted me to be ready for the new school year, but half the time I had no idea what they wanted from me. It seemed like I had to know everything about the real world and everything about the supernatural world, and I would still have two years left after that, before graduation. The guys and girls who came to be Watchers were usually the best students, but there were some very bright slayers and magic users. I was not one of these bright students. In fact, I pretty much sucked at everything, including slaying.

So I spent _a lot_ of time studying, including one Saturday night. Already stressed out over a paper I had due before regular classes started the next week, I cursed like a banshee when I dropped my papers outside the library. It was late and I was glad there was no one around to yell at me for my language.

"Motherfucking, piece of shit, asshole papers. Why won't you just stay in the fucking folders where I put you? God damn it!"

After a few seconds, I stopped cursing and just gathered my things, wrestling them back into my bag. And then, I just sat on the floor, against the wall, needing to be still and quiet for just a moment. Letting my head drop back against the stone wall, I tried not to think, instead just going somewhere else for a moment. It wasn't a very long moment.

The short hallway to the library, where I sat despondently on the floor, joined with the main hallway, which spanned from the heavy front doors toward the big stairs and the dining hall beyond. And the sound of those front doors opening broke my peaceful silence.

Curious and not wanting to be caught sitting on the floor, I stood up and went to that junction, peering around the corner. Where the front doors were closing, Angel and Buffy stood, talking quietly with one another as they walked. As they came closer, I started to make out what Buffy was saying.

"Did you see when that vamp tried to bite me?" she asked, laughing.

"No," Angel smiled, keeping his eyes fixed on her as they walked.

"He was all arrg!" she said, baring her teeth and holding her hands up like they were claws. "Trying to bite me, but he must have had lockjaw or something when he died, 'cause I swear, as little as his jaw could open? There's no way he could have bitten anything bigger than my thumb!"

"So I suppose," Angel grinned, taking her hand in his as they walked, "he couldn't feed and it was a good thing you put him out of his misery."

"Darn tootin'!" she nodded, nudging against his shoulder as they walked. "Thanks for coming patrolling with me, sweetie. I really needed to get out of this castle and away from all the girl power."

"Just like old times, huh?" he asked as they passed my hallway, neither noticing I was there. Even I could hear my heartbeat rushing in my ears, so maybe Angel did know I was here and chose to ignore me. I mean, the way Andrew talked about "Vampyres" it seemed like they could hear a heartbeat from, like, a mile away.

"Yeah," Buffy replied fondly to Angel's question. "It was fun."

"And I've missed just watching you fight."

"Yeah?" she asked, stopping near one of the walls and turning to face Angel.

"Yes," he nodded, leaning closer to her in a way that had me holding my breath for her. "You're so beautiful," Angel said, so softly I almost missed it, before tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, trailing his fingers down the side of her neck.

Buffy whispered something I thought was, "Angel," just before he tilted her chin up with one hand and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

Oh, to be that girl! I sighed as silently as I could, but I think it attracted Angel's attention, since he broke the kiss, glancing back to where I was hiding around the corner, heart beating like crazy. Why did I keep finding myself in these situations?

"I should get back upstairs," he said after a moment, his voice trailing away as they headed toward the big staircase.

I saw Buffy nod, but didn't hear her response, so I just watched as they reached the top of the steps, parting slowly, hands clasped until the very end.

Huh. I'd thought Spike was Buffy's boyfriend, but maybe he was just overly friendly. He seemed like that kind of guy. This exchange between Angel and Buffy had been intense and full of honest-to-God love. So that was it! Angel was with Buffy and that's why her sister Dawn had warned me off. Not that I'd ever have a chance with a guy like Angel. Never in a million years.

Sighing, I made my way into the library, which was _technically_ closed, but hardly well secured, and set up for a long and lonely night of essay writing.

* * *

About a week after our encounter in the library, Dawn and I met for some extra practice. It was early morning in the training room, though you couldn't tell that since the dungeon was quite lacking in windows.

"We'll start with hand-to-hand, like you've been learning with Spike," Dawn said, reading from a Watcher's guide book. "And then later, we'll move onto the cool stuff, like weapons."

"Spike says he wouldn't let me touch a weapon if it fell into my hands," I told her, remembering my latest humiliation.

"He can be a little harsh," she nodded. "But he means well."

"How did you get him to like you?" I asked, as we moved out onto the training floor, getting ready to spar.

Dawn shrugged. "He actually spent a lot of time protecting me when I was younger, which means we would hang out, eat pizza, and watch movies. He's kinda like a big brother."

"How touching," I sighed sarcastically.

"Oh, and this one time? I threatened to set him on fire while he was sleeping. I think it made him like me more," she laughed, a bright smile on her face.

Nodding, I took this information in. My chances of befriending Spike seemed fairly low, so I guessed I just had to impress him with violence, which is why Dawn and I were here. "How do we start?" I asked her.

"I think, since you're stronger, I'm going to start attacking, and you should just defend yourself for now."

"Is that what it says in your text book?"

"Yes," she whined with a put-upon look and a little smile, "so let's just go with it, okay?"

"Okay," I nodded, bracing for the attack. Dawn threw a couple of punches that I easily blocked, before she turned and kicked out at my hip, sending me crashing to the ground.

"See?" I told her as I got up. "I should be able to take you no problem."

"Dude, I may not be a slayer, but I've fought a few demons in my day. I'm not as bad as you think. Which means you're not as bad as you think, capishe?"

"Capiche? What, are we in the damn Godfather?"

"Hey," she said with a laugh, getting ready to attack me again.

We sparred for a good half hour, and Dawn had some really helpful insights on what I was doing wrong.

"See?" she said after I'd failed to block a punch after she feinted. "If your stance is more like this," she showed me standing in a fighting pose until I emulated her, "it's easier to change direction quicker."

She tried hitting me with the same move again, feinting first one way and then the other before striking out at me. This time, I managed to do it, to block her punch and not feel like I was doing it on accident.

"I got it!"

"You got it!" she smiled brightly.

"It makes so much more sense when you explain it," I told her. "It's like Spike can't remember not being able to fight. He never explains the basics, he just assumes you've got it or that you'll figure it out on your own."

"Well," she replied, packing up her things and walking with me from the training room, "this was really good practice for me, too."

"So," I said as we walked, "some of the students are on reserve teams, right?"

"Yeah," Dawn replied, nodding. "Why do you ask?"

"When do I get to be on one of those teams?"

"I'm not sure, really," Dawn shrugged. "I think it has something to do with when Buffy and Spike think you're ready."

"So, in general, if you're not a delinquent like me, when does that happen?"

"Usually not until you graduate."

"But my friend is on the team."

Frowning, Dawn asked, "Who's your friend?"

"Aubrey Truman," I told her. "Australian."

"She's not on the reserves," Dawn told me, her eye brows knit together with concern.

"Are you sure?"

"Super sure," Dawn told me. "Buffy thinks I'm her slave and makes me re-type out all the team assignments when she does them. To make sure they're 'right', apparently."

"Well, at least she trusts you with something. My older brother, Stacey, wouldn't even let me watch his turtle when he left for college."

"Consider yourself lucky, Rita. My sister expects way too much from me."

We chit-chatted the rest of the way up to the second floor, where Dawn's room was. I thought about telling her what I'd seen between Buffy and Angel, but it seemed like a moment too private and too special to share with anyone else. Hell, I even felt a little uncomfortable having seen it in the first place. So I just walked with Dawn, talking about nothing in particular. As we parted, she called out, "I'll see you again on Thursday?"

"Bright and early," I agreed, feeling a lot better about being at this school than I had for a long time. At least until I got to history class and got an awful score back on my essay from last week. Damn essays.

* * *

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	6. Abandoned

_A/N: Yes, I changed the title. Because the old one was too off-putting and it didn't mean anything. I hope this one is better._

_A very long and busy week, and some moderately awful writer's block later, and here you go..._

_

* * *

  
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Expectations Chapter 6 - Abandoned

"Hey, Rita," Aubrey smiled when she came knocking on my door the next morning. "Vera's gotten the okay to drive us into town today. There's room in the car if you want it."

"I don't know," I said, studying my friend for a moment. Why had she lied to me about being on the reserves? Where had she gone that day? Making an excuse, I said, "I've got so much work to finish before Monday."

"You have to take a little bit of a break, don't you? I don't want to explore the shops all on my own, Reets. Without my best friend." She gave me a bright smile and said, "You can help me pick out hair dye!"

Maybe when she lied, Aubrey was just being ... Aubrey. She wouldn't keep big secrets from me, would she? I bet she just scampered off for the chance to be unsupervised for awhile while everyone else was busy. And I just couldn't resist the idea that Aubrey thought of me as her best friend. I couldn't.

"Alright," I nodded, grabbing a sweatshirt and my wallet, glad my mom was still giving me an allowance, depositing the money into my account from half a world away. I hadn't been thinking about her too much, about any of my family members, actually, but I tried to send an e-mail once a week, to make sure they knew I was okay. Stacey said he was going to send me a camera and headset so we could talk face to face, but his package hadn't arrived yet and he said it was probably held up in customs.

As I joined Aubrey out in the hall, locking my door behind me, she chuckled, "I knew I could convince you to come. And you'll see, this'll be way more fun than staying here and doing boring ol' homework."

"Yeah," I giggled back. "And since you're going too, I won't end up getting the lowest grade in the class."

"Hey! My grades aren't that bad!"

"No. When you actually take the time to do the work, you're capable of so much more," I teased her, with a playful little shove as we walked, and smiled when she grinned at me.

In the town nearest the castle, Aubrey and I split up from the other girls, agreeing to meet them for lunch at a little tea shop. From there, we headed directly for the beauty supply store another girl had told Aubrey about. I'd never been much of a girlie-girl, but it was fun poking through things with my friend, sharing little thoughts and giggles.

As we left the store, hair dye held tightly in Aubrey's grip, she asked me, "Do you think with blue hair, I'd be able to come down here and maybe pick up a local guy?"

"I don't see why not," I told her with an encouraging smile. "You'll definitely attract attention, that's for sure."

"Good," she decided with a determined looking frown. "I'm sick of sticking to the shadows."

"Aubrey," I giggled. "You're one of the loudest people I've ever met. You couldn't stick to the shadows if you tried."

"You'd be surprised," she replied with a little sigh. Then, her attitude changed, back into the happier Aubrey I knew and liked, "Wanna check out this music shop?"

"Yeah, okay," I agreed, following where she led and wondering what, exactly, had made Aubrey so self-critical? What wasn't she telling me? I knew that we'd only really been friends for about a month, maybe a little longer, but I'd already told her almost everything about me, and she'd told me quite a bit in return. But the whole time we spent in the music store, she seemed straightforward and carefree and just as I had come to expect from her. Hopefully she'd stay this way for awhile.

When we joined the others for lunch, Aubrey and I sat down next to Vera (who I think was South American), an American girl named Beth, and a French girl, Claudette. It helped that everyone knew English, at least moderately well, and I felt a little bad that I couldn't remember any of my Spanish from the year before.

After I told this to Vera, she chuckled and said, "That's okay, Rita. I speak Portuguese."

"Well, I definitely don't know that one either!" I said with a grin, and everyone smiled or laughed. I rode the high off that victory most of the way through the meal, which consisted of bitter British tea and yummy chicken sandwiches. Conversation flitted back and forth from the impending school year to clothes to music and movies to boys.

Finally, during a lull in the conversation, I asked the group, "Did you hear about what happened with Faith and that girl that got killed?"

Aubrey already had, of course, but the others hadn't, so I set about telling the tale, or as much as I could remember of Faith's version, anyways.

"So the demons destroyed a whole town in Russia?" Beth asked me, her eyes wide with fear. "Just to kill one slayer?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "And they almost got Faith, too."

"It's a good thing Buffy, Angel and Fred all got there in time to save her," Claudette said, her accent thick, but still understandable.

"I know all about Buffy," Beth told us. "And Angel's a vampire, right? But what about Fred? I thought she was just a Science teacher."

"Well," Vera told us, "I heard the whole story when Fred got here with Spike and Angel at the beginning of the summer. Apparently she's got a demon's memory and personality stuck in her brain."

"So she's part demon?" Beth asked, a disgusted look on her face.

"No," Vera replied, shaking her head and taking a bite of her sandwich, chewing it as she spoke. "That's the odd thing. She just _remembers_ being a demon. But she can do magic that makes her very, very strong and quick."

"Maybe that's what I need," I pouted, thinking about Spike's class, and the other girls nodded in sympathy. Everyone had heard how lousy I was. And since Beth was in my class, she'd seen it firsthand.

* * *

After lunch, the five of us poked around the town a little more, and then a little more after then, and then a lot, really just putting off going back. I knew that the day after next, all my final summer papers and projects were due. And I knew that the longer we stayed here, the less likely I would be to get any of them done. Half of my brain was freaking out and the other half just decided, fuck it. I mean, what were they going to do? Glare at me more? They needed every slayer they could get. Even the incompetent ones.

When it started to get dark and Claudette mentioned going back more than once, we came upon an old cemetery, with mausoleums and everything.

"Hey," said Vera, "we should stay here and see if any vampires appear. Then, we could slay them."

"Yeah!" Beth cried. "We could get some real experience, instead of just training with Spike and Buffy."

The others agreed, but I found my heart hammering in my chest at the thought of facing another vampire, out here. In the dark. Without Faith here to protect us. "You guys," I tried to argue, "we don't even have stakes!"

With a shrug, Vera broke off a tree branch, about half as thick as my wrist, and handed it to me. "There you go."

"But!" I complained, wincing when they all turned to face me. "Uh." Swallowing and gathering my courage (what little I could manage), I said, "You have no idea how fucking scary vampires can be in real life. We shouldn't be here."

"We are _five slayers_, Rita," Claudette replied in her thick accent. "What is the harm?"

"Yeah," Beth agreed with her friend. "We can take 'em. You dusted one already, right?" she asked me.

"Well, yeah," I nodded, trying not to hyperventilate at how cornered I felt. We really couldn't do this. Someone was going to get killed! "But it was an accident, really. And Faith was there to help me."

"I don't care what you say," Vera decided, speaking over her shoulder as she pushed on the cemetery gate. "I think it will be fun."

As the other girls followed Vera, I hung back, grabbing Aubrey's wrist with my hand as she followed. "Please," I begged her. "Come back to the castle with me."

"I wanna see what's happening here, Reets. C'mon, it'll be fun."

"No," I shook my head, "it won't be. And I don't want to be here when everything goes to shit."

"Then, go back on your own. You know the way." What the hell? She was just gonna go with the others, with no regard for me? So not cool! I tried to argue, to call her back, but Aubrey disappeared into the cemetery with the others.

Fighting back tears, I turned on my heel and walked away, back toward the town. So, now how was I supposed to get home? Vera had the car keys, and anyways, I hadn't taken Angel's driving test yet. Would a little town like this even have something like a taxi?

No matter what anyone in that village says, I was not crying as I reached the center of town. I just had something in my eye. Really. A quick look in the phone book told me that there weren't any cabs or car services. Not to take me up to the castle, anyways. I thought about calling up there, to see if someone could come get me, but that would just be another thing I couldn't do by myself. I was supposed to be a slayer, damn it! Not a little girl, not anymore.

So, gritting my teeth, I started the long walk back. It really wasn't all that far, maybe four or five miles, but it got fucking dark out and I kept flashing back to the night I saw my first two vampires. Then, I realized that instead of throwing down the stick Vera handed me, like I had thought to, I'd stuck it in my bag. To make myself feel better, I took it out, gripping it tightly and cursing the night every few steps.

Aubrey had left me to fend for myself, and I still couldn't believe it. What a shitty thing to do! And on top of lying to me about being in the reserves? Well, she could find someone else to dye her fucking hair, 'cause it wasn't going to be me. Not even if she begged.

After I got done ranting to myself about Aubrey, I started ranting about schoolwork, of course. To many things to do and too little time. And I wanted to do well. It's not like I didn't want to know everything. I mean, there were some parts of Math class and English and History, and hell, even Science class that I would be okay with not knowing, but this felt like an opportunity. A chance to make myself into something great. Into something hardly anyone else in the world could be.

And I was failing.

* * *

Later that evening I got back to the castle in one piece, still alone. I wondered if one of the cars I'd seen passing me held my supposed friends, but nobody stopped to even check on me. So I came home alone.

Before I got to the front door, I heard voices echo from around the corner and decided to go investigate. Peeking into an alcove created by the castle's ridiculous architecture, I saw Spike and Connor leaning against the building, both smoking.

"Oi, duck," Spike called, and I knew he'd noticed me. Stupid vamp senses. Cringing at the expectation of getting in trouble, I stepped around the corner so they could see me. "What'cha doin' out this late?"

"Fucking up my life," I replied on a whim and both men laughed, making me more comfortable. Maybe I wouldn't get in trouble. "What are you guys doing?"

"Hiding from Angel," Connor replied, taking another drag from his cigarette and blowing the smoke away from me as I ventured closer to them.

"Want one?" Spike asked, holding the pack of cigarettes out towards me. "You look like you've had a rough night."

"Yeah," I said, taking him up on his offer. I'd smoked a few times before, when Haley would steal her mother's cigarettes and we'd sneak down to the lake at night, putting our feet in the water and just waiting for something to happen. Well, something had happened, and I wasn't seeing how it could ever be everything I was hoping for in a destiny. Mostly, it just sucked.

Spike handed me his lighter and I took it, setting my cigarette aflame before handing it back and leaning on the patch of wall on Connor's far side. "You wanna talk about it, luv?" the vampire asked as I inhaled the fragrant smoke into my lungs.

"I really don't," I told him, trying not to cough as I exhaled. "Unless you can explain to me why some people are such assholes."

Connor laughed and Spike looked around him to grin at me, "Were you always this feisty?"

Shrugging, I replied, "Yeah?"

"Should show it more in trainin', slayer," he suggested, leaning back again. "Never underestimate the importance of attitude."

"Where'd you learn that?" Connor asked him. "Get it from Billy Idol along with the look?"

"No, God damn it!" Spike cried, sounding offended, but I noticed a smile twitching at the corners of his lips and a twinkle in his eye. "No one believes I had this look first!" Snorting in indignation, he continued, "And I learned the attitude bit from your dad."

"Really?" Connor asked, sliding down the wall a bit and stretching his legs out in front of him. "He had more personality than a slab of cardboard at some point?"

When Spike laughed loudly, I joined, wondering who they were talking about. After a few seconds, Spike nodded, gathering his breath and saying, "Back in the day, he was so much more _fun_. It was always about feasting and boozing and picking fights with demons just because he could. He'd stand up to any bad ass, tried to take us on, he would."

"Okay," Connor nodded, "I can see that. If you scrape away all the broodiness, I suppose there's a personality underneath there." Turning to me and ignoring Spike's chuckle, Connor asked, "What's your dad like, Rita?"

"Um," I said, astonished that someone had actually remembered my name. "I suppose he's okay. He's obsessed with the supernatural."

"Like ghosts and shit?" Connor asked. "Does he know you're a slayer?"

"Yes to the first," I chuckled a little. "He's convinced that his office is haunted by the ghost of a murdered secretary named Melinda Hobbs. She keeps moving his coffee cup when he's not looking."

"Bloody ghosts," Spike muttered. "Though when you think of the existence, it's no wonder they bug people. It's the only thing they've got left."

"Speaking from experience?" Connor asked him, and I wondered what he meant by that.

"Yes," Spike hissed with a finality that said he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

After letting the silence settle for a moment, I told them, "My parents have no idea I'm a slayer."

Connor countered that with, "My other parents think I'm doing a summer internship with a law firm in Massachusetts. Imagine their surprise when I show up next week knowing nothing about the law and everything about killing vamps and dating slayers."

"You already knew everything about killing vamps, if I recall," Spike countered. "So it was just the dating slayers part you learned over the summer?"

"Yeah," Connor replied, shooting me a quick grin.

"How many have you bagged?" the vampire asked with a smile.

"God, Spike," Connor scolded. "Don't say it like that! And there were only two."

"Which ones?" I asked, curious for some gossip.

Sighing, Connor took another drag on his cigarette and replied, "Jackie Duremburg and Silva LeMont."

"Ooh," Spike sighed, "that little French number?"

"She's not so great," I scoffed.

"Jealous, pet?" Spike asked, quirking his eyebrow at me.

"No," I shook my head, though maybe I was a little jealous of Silva's ability to attract romantic attention from anyone. "Just remembering this time, in the library, when I watched her pick her nose for like, an hour straight."

"No shit?" Connor asked me, looking a little distraught.

"No shit," I agreed, laughing a little at his expression. "Cross my heart. Looked like she was prospecting for gold, if you know what I mean."

"God, I'm glad I broke up with her, then," Connor chuckled.

Just then, Angel came around the corner and Connor muttered, "Uh-oh, busted." Freaked out that Angel of all people would see me breaking the rules like this, I put my cigarette out right away, but Connor and Spike just watched him approach, as nonchalant as ever.

"Spike!" he growled as he passed the vampire, giving me a disappointed little look that had my chest clenched up in nerves. Worst night ever! Then, Angel grabbed the cigarette right from Connor's mouth and stamped it out before taking Spike's and subjecting it to the same treatment.

Connor sighed in resignation, but Spike cried, "Oi! Fuck off! I wasn't done with that yet!"

Turning to Connor, Angel asked, "Why do you hang around this loser, picking up all his bad habits? If your parents knew about this..."

"I dunno, Dad," Connor smirked. Dad! Angel was Connor's father? How could that be? And what had he meant by his 'other parents'? Had he been adopted? "Why do _you_ like Spike?"

"Not for the same reasons you do, I hope," he said, grabbing Spike's upper arm harshly.

"God, luv," Spike replied as Angel manhandled him toward the front door, "I'm not that much of a deviant."

"How many times have I told you to stop trying to corrupt my son? And now Rita?" He scoffed harshly. "How many times, Spike?"

"Dunno," the other vamp replied. "Don't usually listen to most of your prattle, now do I? Besides, your lad can survive being crushed, you git. Don't think a little tobacco's gonna do any harm."

"That's not the _point_," Angel snarled back as they turned the corner, moving out of earshot. Watching them, it seemed like Spike was used to Angel yelling at him. So, maybe that day, when Angel had stood up for me, it was nothing new. For either of them. Fuck.

Connor chuckled beside me, nodding toward the door so I would follow him inside, which I did gladly. At least someone still noticed me. And remembered my name. It was nice, even if Connor did remind me so much of my brother that I didn't think of him any other way. Which was fine. He probably thought of me as a friend, too.

Wanting to break the silence and prove that I would be a good friend to someone who wasn't an asshole like Aubrey, I asked Connor, "Angel's your dad?" Also, I _might_ have been insanely curious.

"Yeah," he sighed with a shrug. "And the guy can be so overprotective sometimes."

"Most parents are like that," I pointed out, opening the big front door and stepping through in front of Connor.

"Yeah, I suppose," he agreed. "Angel's got nothin' on my other parents." There it was again. 'Other parents'. Someone besides Angel, who cared about him. "If they knew half the stuff I did on a daily basis, they'd probably die from shock."

Smiling, I teased him, "Like carrying around poisonous demons and sleeping with slayers?"

Sheepishly, Connor smiled and nodded, "Yeah, like that."

We walked a few more steps before I asked, "Did Spike say you survived being crushed?"

"Yeah," Connor answered with a bit of a sigh. "I'm not exactly normal, what with having vampires for parents."

Ah, so his mother was a vampire, too? This guy just never had a chance to be normal, did he? Briefly, I wondered if his other parents were human, as his comments seemed to imply, or if they were vampires too. One big bloodsucking family. "Where's your mom?" I asked, hoping that I wasn't prying too much. "Your real mom, I mean."

"She died," he answered, his brows furrowed in confusion, like he didn't know how to feel about her. "When I was born."

"I'm sorry," I said, kind of wishing I hadn't said anything.

"It's okay," Connor told me. "I don't ever get to talk about her. It bums Angel out whenever I ask."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't get to talk about her," I told him. "I only ever got to meet my grandmother once, when I was really little, but some of my best memories of her are the stories my dad tells about when she was alive." Giving Connor one last look as I approached the stairs headed for the North wing, I said, "You deserve to know her."

"Thanks, Rita," Connor nodded to me with a little wave. "You're right."

"Yeah, I'm fuckin' Dr. Phil over here tonight." Connor laughed as I turned to stalk up the stairs to my room, looking forward to a few moments of peace and quiet. Inside. Where it was warm. And I could turn on the light whenever I wanted. That was something to be thankful for, anyways.

* * *

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	7. Questions and Liars

Living up to Expectations – Chapter 7 - Questions and Liars

"Alright, students," said Andrew at the start of my first class. "Please take your seats, okay?" All through the classes I'd had with him over the summer, the blonde had struck me as squirrely. And he seemed young. Too young to be a teacher, and I wondered what his qualifications were, but had been too shy to ask. "In case you haven't met me yet, I am Andrew Wells, expert demonologist, certified Watcher, and your instructor for Supernatural Studies."

"This school year," Andrew continued, his voice changing into something more lyrical, for effect, I supposed, "we will take a journey through much of what is known and unknown about the Supernatural world. We will study demonology, astral physics, history, the occult, legend and myth. Oh, the worlds you will see, children! They astound even a seasoned practitioner such as yours truly."

Behind me, a boy scoffed quietly, probably put off by Andrew's act. Or his claims of greatness. I had to admit, I hadn't seen him do anything all that great. Mostly he just hung around Buffy and her friends, trying to look cool by association. Briefly, I wondered if he would ever grow out of that. And if anyone really ever grew out of wanting the cool kids to like you. I knew I was right in the middle of that phase, still angry with myself for leaving Aubrey and the other girls like that. But I couldn't go along with something so stupid. I'd never been able to work myself up for little rebellions, like smoking with Haley, and swearing when my parents weren't within earshot. Never something that could get me or one of my friends killed. It was just too much.

"This, my friends," Andrew continued loudly, breaking me out of my thoughts, "Is the first year of Super-Studies. As you may know, I have taken over this position recently. Just this year, in fact, from the wise and venerable Mr. Rupert Giles. Ol' Rupes has stayed on as the Librarian and as a mentor for those of you studying to be Watchers, like I have done. I hope much fun will be had by all."

Andrew nodded and smiled a dopey grin at us before drawing a breath and saying, "So, on to our first topic: Vam_pyres_! These are a slayer's first and foremost targets, and the most prolific race of demons in this dimension, due to their quite astonishing ability to turn their human hosts into immortal demons like themselves. Not many are chosen for such a fate, but those that do are given the chance to live forever." Andrew's voice became softer at the end of his speech, like ha was romanticizing a vampire's existence. Maybe he wanted to be one? I thought it kind of a stupid wish, since you would have to die first.

"But," someone called out, also recognizing the tone in Andrew's voice, "doesn't a vamp lose his soul when he dies? So it's not really the original person that gets to live forever. Right?"

"Correct you are, Fiora, my fine lady," Andrew replied, though he looked a little thrown by the question. Soon enough, though he recovered, saying, "We will cover this and much more of the Vam_pyre_ lore and history this month, so I have no doubt any further questions will be answered in time. Now, we begin with the origin of the first vampire – the Turok-Han..."

Andrew lectured the whole time, drawing silly-looking cartoons on the board as he spoke. I took notes, and I really tried to pay attention this time. Maybe if I could keep ahead of everything right from the start, I wouldn't fall so far behind. And it's not like I had any friends to waste time with anymore. But I was trying my hardest not to think about that during class. Then halfway through class, when I realized that I'd already filled up two pages of my notebook, I thought, hmm. This might be something I could get into. It was certainly better than how Andrew had taught during the summer, throwing books to read and assignments for research papers at us without much care or direction.

At the end of class, Andrew stopped me, "Oh, Rita?"

"Yeah?" I said, turning back and approaching his desk, smiling to myself when I noticed I was taller than him.

"Nice job," Andrew replied, handing me a stapled paper. Soon, I recognized that it was the research essay I'd done and as I took it, flipping back the title page, I saw that he'd given me an A.

"Whoa, thanks," I cried, flipping through a few more pages. "You really thought it was good?"

Nodding enthusiastically, Andrew told me, "Excellent choice of topic, Rita. And very well researched. I learned a lot about chaos demons."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," he said with a bright smile. "I think you'll do quite well this year, my young padawan."

"Great, thanks," I said, turning away and escaping the room before he saw the massive eye roll sparked by his lame Star Wars reference.

Okay, I'd finally done something right! Maybe it was because I'd never studied the supernatural or the occult and the subject was new to me, but I found it a lot more interesting than most of my other classes. I could be that girl, anyways. The one who sucks at fighting and English and Math, but who's really good at all the weird stuff. Yeah, I could be her.

* * *

  
The next class I had was called "Slayer Lore" and I hadn't had it over the summer. I guess they knew everyone would be starting from scratch with that one. I found the appointed classroom, avoiding Aubrey and Claudette and sitting as far away from them as I could. To make up for my previous poor choice in friends, I introduced myself to the slayer sitting in front of me, a girl with dark-brown skin who wore long, loose clothes and a scarf over her hair.

"Fatima," she replied carefully, in a thick accent. "It is nice to meet you, Ree-tah."

"You too," I smiled, liking the way she said my name. I was about to ask her where she was from, when Buffy Summers came into the room.

"Hi, everyone," she said, a cheery smile on her face. "In case you haven't seen me before, my name is Buffy Summers. I was called ten years ago, which makes me the Slayer who's been active the longest. I'm still here for several important reasons." She hopped up to sit on her desk, her legs dangling over the front as she spoke to us. "A: I'm good. I'm good because I train hard, and I fight hard. I don't give up. Second: Even though I'm good, I have died twice."

"Twice?" a girl in the front asked her.

"Yeah. I drowned once, and got CPR, but apparently it counted. And then, I sacrificed myself to save the world. Willow brought me back."

"Well then," Aubrey spoke up, and I stared daggers at her, "what's to worry 'bout? Dead on a mission? Back in time for supper?"

"It wasn't like that," Buffy replied, harshly. "There was an awful price. To bring me back, Willow broke laws that should never be broken. It almost ruined the Slayer line for good. But we'll get to that." Standing, Buffy walked around to the back of her desk, muttering, "Where was I?" Snapping her fingers, she said, "Oh, yeah! And I had friends. For the longest time, slayers were taught to stay secret, do their duty alone, and throw everything they had into the destiny. That's not what I'll be teaching you."

Sighing and leaning back against the whiteboard, Buffy continued, "This class is here to teach you the duty and destiny that come along with being Called, but it's also so you can find out what being a Slayer means to you. Because that's the important part, girls. That's what will make you a great slayer. That's what will keep you alive. Knowing why you're here and what you're fighting for."

"Now, we'll only be meeting once a week, mostly because I've got a million things to do and I don't trust anyone else to teach this class. But it'll be good, I think. Give you a chance to think about things in between sessions. We did something similar last year, and I've made some improvements that I hope you'll like. Though, please, if you want to discuss anything I don't touch on, just bring it up in class.

"Who were your friends?" Someone in the back called. "The ones who kept you alive?"

With an amused half-smile, Buffy replied, "My friends were, and still are, Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg. Others came and went. And some even came back, like Angel and Spike. Several died." The slayer paused for a sad moment before continuing, "If you find friends you can trust and love, good friends, being a slayer gets easier to cope with. Not being alone is better than the alternative."

Fuck. I'd driven my friends away, and now here was Buffy, saying hers were the key to her success. And everyone else knew how bad I was at fighting. Maybe even Fatima knew. I knew I was being stupid and melodramatic, but I couldn't help but think that I'd never make another friend here. Dawn was sort of like a friend, but more like a teacher. And I hardly ever saw Connor around. Maybe he'd gone back to school in the States? Everyone else was either too old or too dead to really be my friend. Fuck again.

But then, Buffy switched gears, sitting cross-legged on her desk. "Today, I'm going to tell you about the first slayer, who was a girl, just like us, before some men made her into something almost demonic, so she would fight the forces of evil for them. And it had been that way ever since. One girl in all the world with the power to fight them. Well, now it's not just one of us. But it's important that you know where your power came from."

Buffy had a lot to say on the subject that first hour, telling us all about where slayers came from and how the slayer line worked. She talked until the bell rang, and it felt like she was still at the beginning of the story. "For next time," she told us as we all left, "think about where your power comes from and what that might mean to you."

What that might mean to me? How was I supposed to figure that out? I had power, yes. I was stronger and faster, I was slowly getting better at fighting. But I wondered, if I had refused Faith's offer and stayed home, would having this power really have changed much? Or could I have gone on as I was? A boring girl in a boring town, with a boring future ahead of her? At this point, it didn't seem so bad. But then I wouldn't get to learn all the cool stuff about demons, to learn a subject I might be able to excel at. 

* * *

Feeling pretty good about my paper, but confused about what Buffy had asked of us, I wandered into the lunch room when the time came around, lost in thought. When I finally looked up from my plate, Aubrey was there. I'd selected a table near the edge of the room, hoping to sit alone, for the most part, but my "friend" found me, plopping down across the table from me with a short, "Hullo."

"Hey," I replied, coolly and cautiously.

"So, you're still mad at me, I see?"

"What gave you that impression?" I scowled, pushing my food away as my appetite soured.

"Look, Rita," she begged, almost whining. "I'm sorry, alright? I thought you would change your mind and come find us."

"At night. In a cemetery. Where I've never been before? Bree, that's nuts!"

"But we're slayers, Rita. It's what we're supposed to do!"

Packing up my things, I told her, "I know that. But I couldn't be a part of it. Not yet."

"When?" Audrey asked, standing as I did and walking with me from the room. "You are a Slayer, Rita. You've got to accept that, sooner rather than later."

"I was just in Buffy's class too, you know," I scoffed, putting my tray away and trying to lose Aubrey.

"I'm sorry, Rita," she said again. "I am. I want us to be friends."

"Maybe," I relented turned back by the regret in her voice. "But it's not going to be overnight. You lied to me, Aubrey."

"About what?" she asked, her face a mixture of confused and scared.

"About being in the reserves. And I told you about what happened with my Dad and how much I –"

"You hate liars," Aubrey finished for me, nodding and speaking softly. "I'm sorry for lying. I shouldn't have done that. And I truly _am_ sorry for leaving you."

"I accept your apology, but I need some time to think," I decided, walking away from her again. "I'll see you in Math, later, okay?"

Nodding, Aubrey let me go, twisting her hair nervously. At least she was making an effort. And I'd like to think I was a forgiving person. Don't get me wrong. The way she left me the night before last was a big deal, because if she didn't have my back, who did? Maybe I could look for more friends, better friends. There were plenty of girls here, most around my age, and I had classes with all of them. I just had to believe everything would work out in the end.

Needing to be alone, I set off to spend the rest of the lunch hour in my room. But I wanted to get there alone too, not having the energy for any more conversation just then, so I filched a flashlight from one of the emergency boxes in the hallway and went to go try out a short cut. I'd found an opening near the offices on the first floor, behind a tapestry, and then another up near my room in the North Wing, and they had to be connected, didn't they? Even if they weren't, it was someplace I could be alone with my thoughts for awhile, where no one would find me.

So, sneaking a glance around to make sure no one was looking, I slipped behind the tapestry on the first floor, between the dining hall and all the offices and classrooms, letting it resettle behind me before switching on my flashlight and stepping forward. After only a few paces, there was a little flight of four stairs. I climbed those, only to find that there was another set heading down only three feet later. But I could feel that this was not the only way to go, maybe by the tiny air currents running through the stuffy space. So I turned to my right, and shone my flashlight down a long hallway. Hmm. Telling myself, "This must run behind all the offices," I set out down that hallway, to see what was on the other end. As I walked, shining my flashlight everywhere, I noticed that every once in while there was a little alcove and what looked like the outline of a door, but there were no handles, so I kept walking, wondering when I would start to get creeped out.

I did almost shriek when – while I was looking at the door in one alcove – someone burst through one of the doors I'd already passed. Deciding I'd rather not be in more trouble than I already was, I switched off my flashlight and hid, pressed against the door beside me, trying not to breathe so loudly.

"Bloody hell, Peaches," a voice whispered roughly, and I thought it might have been Spike's. "You said you were gonna call me up an hour ago."

After some intense shuffling, a little moan, and a few smacking sounds that might have been kisses, another man's voice replied.

"My meeting with that damn lawyer ran long, hon. I really don't think she had your sex life in mind when she suggested that we finish everything up today so she wouldn't have to come back."

Spike was having sex with this other man? That was something unexpected, to say the least. After another growling moan, Spike replied, "Well, she bloody well should have."

Chuckling, the other man groaned again and said, "It was only another hour. Oh fuck, Will!" Will? Was that Spike's real name? Feeling like I really shouldn't be hearing this, I started trying to open the door beside me, silently searching for some button or latch I could use to escape and cursing the way my heart beat right through my lungs.

"Another hour I had to sit and think about what I wanted to do to you, Angel." Angel! I had to clap my hand over my mouth to keep from gasping out loud. How could he? How dare he betray Buffy like this? I felt beyond shocked. I knew Angel was a vampire (with a soul, according to Andrew) but he'd seemed like such a good guy. Clearly he wasn't! He was just another liar. Like my father. Like Aubrey. God damn it!

"Mmm, precious," Angel groaned and, with a few tears escaping my eyes, I knew I had to get out of there, right away. Returning to my search of the door, I finally found a little latch and pulled it, slipping through and closing it as softly as I could manage. Once through, I found myself in a darkened office, the only light coming from a crack under the door to the hallway. And then, a short shuffling noise told me I wasn't alone.

* * *

_There's a little dose of Spangel for you, to hold you over until the next episode, which will return to Angel and Spike centered 'M' goodness. :)_

_If you're still reading, I'd love to hear from you. And if you'd like to leave an actual review, so much the better!_


	8. Letting Go

Living up to Expectations – Chapter 8 - Letting Go

After staying absolutely still, almost holding my breath, for about a minute, the other person started moving around again. And then, she turned on a flashlight, and I could see the room better. Near the hidden door at my back sat an armchair, and very carefully, I sank down behind it. Who would need to lurk around a dark office with a flashlight? This couldn't be right. And I'd stumbled directly into this in my haste to escape from hearing Angel and Spike have sex. Together.

Putting that trauma aside for the moment, I tried to get a better look at the girl, who stood in front of the filing cabinet behind the desk. In short order, the girl, who had her back to me so I couldn't see her face, picked the cabinet lock and opened one of the drawers. Like she knew just what she was looking for, the girl plucked a file from the drawer and turned to set it down on the desk.

It was Aubrey! What the fuck was going on? Too stunned to do anything, I watched as my former friend opened the file, flipped through it, and then started writing down something on a pad of paper. It looked like she was copying whatever information was in there, scribbling quickly with the flashlight caught under her chin and her tongue sticking out of her mouth in concentration.

What would Aubrey need with any of these files? I wasn't sure whose office this was, maybe a teacher's? Was she stealing the answers to a test, or something? I wouldn't put that past her, given my new found appreciation of Aubrey's ability to be a selfish, lying, cheater when she wanted to be.

After a few moments of copying whatever it was down, Aubrey stowed the pad of paper in her back pocket and replaced the file in its drawer. Then, she quietly walked across the room and cracked open the door. After what was probably checking to make sure the coast was clear, Aubrey slipped into the hallway.

I had to know. I had to figure out exactly how bad this was, what and how much information she stole. So, not caring about being quiet, I stalked across the room and left it. Looking both ways, there was hardly anyone around and I caught sight of Aubrey's calf and foot – her shoes being bright red and unmistakable – as she ducked into another office, two doors down. Was she stealing more test answers from another teacher?

Quickly, I turned and read the name plate next to the door I'd just escaped from. "Buffy Summers, CEO" it said, in bold block letters. What was Aubrey doing in Buffy's office? Her class wouldn't even _have_ tests and I'd gotten the impression that morning that we wouldn't be graded. It was more like a support group, or something.

Hi, my name is Rita, and I'm a slayer.

Hi, Rita…

So, whose office had Aubrey broken into now? I padded down the hallway quickly, trying to keep my sneakered feet falling lightly so she wouldn't hear me coming. The plate next to this office said, "Angel, CFO." Angel's office? Why would Aubrey need to go in there? Did she think that's where they kept all the money, or something? That was stupid! Everyone knows that they'd only keep a little petty cash around. Or maybe that's what Aubrey was after. A few bucks, the answers to a non-existent test. No, there had to be a better explanation.

I ran my fingers over Angel's name plate, trying to decide whether to go in there, or wait for Aubrey to come out before I confronted her, and my fingers ran over a rough patch in the plastic. Looking closer, I saw that someone had etched, very lightly, the words, "Spike's Bitch," into the plate. Probably with a knife. Well, wasn't that just a slap in Buffy's face! This declaration of Angel's affair with Spike, written right where anyone who looked close enough could see it, angered me so much, that I itched for a fight.

That was it then, I was going in. Opening the door quickly on the room, which still had its lights on, I saw Aubrey with a phone to her ear. She turned around when she heard me and stared, wide-eyed. Then, she said softly into the phone, "I have to call you back," and hung up. "Uh, hi Rita. What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" I cried. "And what did you take from Buffy's office?"

"I wasn't –"

"Quit lying to me, Aubrey! You say you're on the reserves, scamper off who knows where; you leave me alone in the village, _at night_; and now you're stealing things and making phone calls? How did I ever think you were my friend?"

"I _am_ your friend," she insisted. "And this isn't what it looks like."

"Well it looks pretty bad," I said, stalking up to her and snatching the pad of paper from her hand.

"_Don't_!" she cried desperately, trying to get it back as I danced away. A quick look at the paper showed a few names and cities. With a shrieking grunt, the girl attacked me, grabbing at the paper and hitting me in the ribs.

"Fuck, Aubrey!" I cried, hitting her back, smashing my fist into her face so she staggered back. Not even bothering to wonder how I'd done it, I took a closer look at the paper in my hand. Setting back together a large tear she'd put in it, I saw that every name on the list was female, or could have been. "Who are these girls?" I asked her. "Are these slayers?"

"No!" Aubrey insisted, her teeth clenched and a hand on her bloody nose. Somehow, I noticed a look flash across her eyes. A look that said I'd guessed correctly.

"Who were you giving these names to?" Consumed by rage I didn't quite understand, I grabbed her by the arm, screaming in Aubrey's face, "Who?!"

Instead of answering, Aubrey lashed out at me, breaking my grip on her arm and kicking out at my belly with her knee. Though I'd learned a lot training with Dawn for the past few weeks, I still didn't fully block the kick, and it thudded into my hip – instead of the intended target of my gut – bending me over in shock. Aubrey tried to get away, but I ignored the dull pain and scrambled after her, tackling her into the back of Angel's office door.

"Shit, Rita!" the girl grunted, her voice wavering like she would start crying soon as she jerked back at me, trying to free herself from my grasp on her shoulders. "I…"

"Just tell me who," I insisted, and I didn't even recognize my voice after how thick it had become with anger. "Tell me who needs to know about these girls!"

"I can't!"

Seething and overwhelmed with the past ten minutes, I pushed her harshly into the wooden door, before backing off, putting my hands up into my hair in frustration. "What do you mean, you can't fucking tell me?"

As Aubrey turned around, I saw that a few tears had escaped her eyes, trailing down her face. Instead of making me feel sorry for her, those little drops just whipped up my anger. Fucking crocodile tears, if anything, I told myself. Taking a shuddering breath and her hand inching for the doorknob before I flicked my eyes downward and growled at her, Aubrey replied, "Reets, you have no freaking idea what you're getting into here."

"I don't care," I snarled back at her, feinting like I would hit her again. "Tell me, did you give my name away to someone? Was _I_ on one of these lists?"

Eyes darting away, Aubrey mumbled something.

"What?"

"Yes!" she screamed, stepping away from the door and closer to me. "Alright? You were on the list, but I didn't know you then! I didn't…" She huffed and sniffed at the blood dripping from her nose before spitting, "I think Faith got to you first, though."

"First?" I cried, feeling so utterly betrayed I didn't even want to breathe. I wanted to puke and scream and rip something apart with my bare hands, digging my fingernails into something flesh-like and just tearing and smashing until there was nothing left but a satisfying pile of goo. Somehow, I managed to ask through my teeth, "First before who?"

Instead of answering, Aubrey attacked, setting her feet and drawing back a closed fist to hit my face. As her hand came closer and closer, I felt something in my chest – or maybe it was my brain, or someplace in between like my throat – snap and everything slowed down. I let my body do whatever it wanted, which at this moment meant bending backward just in time to avoid Aubrey's fist and using the recoil to duck a second blow before standing straight and kicking her upper leg with the sole of my shoe. Meanwhile, my mind focused on how much pain I wanted to inflict for Faith and her miserably broken leg, for that girl whose entire village in Russia had been wiped out, because at this moment, I was sure it had been Aubrey's fault.

Without waiting for my former friend to recover from the blow to her leg, I smashed a closed fist into the side of her head, and then my other fist into her face. This time, when Aubrey looked up, her fake tears were gone, replaced by fury and a teeth-baring snarl. That snarl turned into a screaming growl as she lunged at me, and without time to think about how I had ever been friends with this monster or even time to blink, I found myself springing backwards deftly. When had I ever learned that?

Aubrey did manage to kick me again, a blow to the ribs that hurt like a motherfucker, before I dodged her next blow and hooked my arm around her neck. As I squeezed, Aubrey scrambled and scratched at my arm, but I managed to lock it in place with my other hand.

"You fucking bitch," I whispered in her ear. "Everyone here _trusted_ you. I would have trusted you with my life, Bree! I would have been friends with you _forever_, until we were two old ladies dying our hair blue," I sniffed back a tear, "so it wouldn't be gray anymore."

"Slayers don't get old," she choked out, fingers still flexing against the cloth of my shirt and her feet trying to kick back at me. "We throw ourselves into this bloody destiny," her body sagged a little and she coughed, making me wonder if I should loosen my hold, "but it doesn't mean shit. Not anymore. Not since there's so many of us."

"Fuck you," I cried and jerked my hold on her neck tighter, the tears really running down my face now. "It means _everything_, Aubrey. Everything!" Still crying, I let both of us sink to the floor and buried my face in Aubrey's mousy-brown hair, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and knowing I would never be able to stomach that brand again.

Dimly, someone else's presence filtered in, speaking to me softly and gently prying my arms loose. "There you go, pet. Nice and easy. Let her go while she's still alive, yeah?"

"Still?" I asked, looking up into Spike's face and then down at the girl in my arms. "Shit," I whispered, suddenly realizing how easily I could have killed her, even if she was a slayer. Sliding back, I let Spike take Aubrey from my lap and lay her out on the ground, the sad, unconscious evidence of what I had done.

Suddenly, I couldn't breathe fast enough. There wasn't enough air in this windowless room and I thought maybe if I stood, it would get better. Shooting up to my feet, I stumbled backward, hitting something big and cool and person-like. Twirling around with a surprised gasp, I came face to face with Angel. What was he –? Oh yeah, this was his office. And he and Spike had been together in the passageway behind the still open panel at the vampire's back.

"Hey," Angel said gently, reaching out for my shoulder until I jerked away from him with a barely disguised scowl of anger and fear. Fear because they might be cheating bastards, but he and Spike were definitely two of the higher-ups at this place and I didn't think almost killing another student was an action they'd take lightly. Continuing with a concerned frown, Angel asked, "What happened, Rita?"

Backing away from both vampires and knowing I had to say something soon, before Aubrey woke up and tried to lie her way out of it, I pointed and choked on the word, "She." Swallowing dryly, my throat swollen with tears and anger, I tried again. "Aubrey was giving the names and locations of girls – of _slayers_ – away!" Frantically, I picked up the piece of paper we'd fought over from the floor near the office door and practically threw it into Angel's hands. "She was using your fu–" I swallowed the curse and continued, "your phone. It's the one that does international calls, right? Aubrey was talking to someone, with this list in her hand."

Angel glanced at Spike as the other vampire joined him, handing over the list. "Those are all new ones," Angel told him, pulling a cell phone out of his pants pocket and handing that to Spike too, "the ones Faith and Ian haven't picked up yet."

With a grunt and a nod, Spike opened the phone and pressed a few buttons before handing it back to Angel and stepping closer to me with the list in his hands. "Any idea where she got this?" Spike asked me, while Angel spoke into his phone. "This info is what you'd call top secret, yeah?"

"She stole it," I told him, hugging my arms and trying to keep myself from trembling or fainting, "from a filing cabinet in Buffy's office."

"And you'd know this…?"

Scowling at Spike's accusatory tone, I replied, "Because I saw her pick the lock and swipe a file before she copied those names down and came here."

Spike nodded, watching Angel speak with his back turned to us for a second before turning back, "So what were you doin' in Buffy's office, then?"

Blushing, I decided to just go with the truth and muttered, "Avoiding the two of you."

"Avoid–" Spike replied, confused at first until his eyes flicked back to the panel Angel was closing as he flipped closed his phone and stowed it away. With a sheepish half-smile that made me want to gag, the blonde vampire said, "Oh. You were back there?"

Nodding, I muttered, "Trying to get around without having to talk to anyone."

"Ha!" Spike barked mirthlessly. "Good luck finding that 'round here. Part of the reason we started…" he trailed off, waving his hand at the now almost-invisible panel.

Shaking my head and looking away, I clenched my teeth again at the thought of what they were doing to Buffy. And whether or not I had the right to stick my nose in the middle of their business and tell her what was going on.

Angel approached us, after crouching to check on Aubrey quickly, and his hand rested on the back of Spike's neck, unconsciously, it looked like. Spike caught Angel's eye and opened his mouth to say something, when there was a short rap on the door, followed by several people entering the room. Buffy came in first, and I found my eyes darting to Angel, expecting him to jump away from the other vampire, to stop touching him so fondly. But he didn't. If anything, he stepped closer to Spike as Xander and a slayer who I didn't know crowded in behind Buffy.

That was weird, wasn't it? Did that mean everyone, Buffy included, knew the two of them were sleeping together? Then what had I seen between Angel and Buffy that night near the library? Confused, I almost missed it when Angel said, "Rita has found the mole," and pointed to Aubrey's prostrate form on the floor.

"Oh my God," the head slayer cried as I moved aside to reveal the girl, and she dropped down next to Aubrey to check on her. "Is she still alive?"

"Yeah, pet," Spike said, crouching beside her and putting his hand on Buffy's back. "She's fine. Taken down quite handily, I might add," the blonde vampire looked up at me with a grin that made my heart flutter in confusion, anxiety, and something like excitement over Spike finally approving of something I'd done. "Sounded like she'd been leaking the info for months, and using Angel's bloody international line to do it."

"Xan?" Buffy asked, standing and facing her friend. "When did Aubrey get here?"

"Uh," he said, looking up to the ceiling with his one brown eye, "I think at the beginning of summer. Her brother, Danny, is one of the Watcher recruits."

Nodding sharply like his answer had confirmed something for her, Buffy asked, "Do you think he could be in on this as well?"

"Anything's possible," Angel sighed, helping Spike lift the girl from the floor. "We'll take her to the hospital wing; see if Jerry can wake her up sooner rather than later."

Buffy made room for them to pass before turning to Xander and the girl, "You two go get Danny, bring him to the hospital and we'll question both of them at once."

"Right-o," Xander nodded, letting the slayer leave the room first, before he followed.

And then, Buffy turned to me. "Here," she said, leading me by an elbow toward one of the chairs in front of Angel's desk. "Have a seat, Rita."

"Okay," I agreed, knowing my knees were about to give out at any moment. Buffy and I both sat, and she turned her chair to face me more easily.

"Haven't I seen you two together more often than not?" she asked me, her gaze somehow demanding and gentle at the same time.

"Yeah, we used to be friends," I told the slayer. "And she tried to apologize to me earlier, but then she went and did this!"

Nodding, Buffy patted the back of my hand and said, "Thank you for finding her out. After Russia, we knew that someone had to be leaking information, but we couldn't figure out who it was or how they were doing it. So, thank you."

"Um," I replied. "You're welcome?"

Smiling at my response, Buffy stood up and said, "We'll make a professional Slayer of you, yet!"

"Yeah?" I asked her, letting some of the shock of the day loosen under her praise. First Spike, and now Buffy, just about congratulating me for almost killing my supposed best friend. This place certainly got a lot of getting used to.

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, hauling me up by one hand. "You wanna watch the interrogation? Might be a good learning experience."

Without thought, I nodded right away. Of all the things I had to know, it was _why_ Aubrey had become a traitor and if she'd been lying to me the entire time we'd been friends. I just had to know why.

* * *

_Reviews appreciated, please!_

_One more chapter to go in this episode, and it will probably take me at least a week to post, since I'm going out of town. So, until then, happy reading!  
_


	9. Denouement

Living up to Expectations - Chapter 9 - Denouement

Grimly, I followed Buffy through the castle to the hospital wing, wondering how I could have been so completely fooled by Aubrey. Had I just been so desperately looking for a friend, that I'd ignored something I shouldn't have? Sure, Aubrey had gotten in trouble with the teachers more often than not, but usually it was for talking in class, or fidgeting so much that it distracted those around her. At the time, I'd thought she was just naturally loud, but maybe it meant something else? Sighing, I looked up when Connor joined us.

"What's going on?" he asked me, easily keeping up with the fast pace Buffy set.

"Apparently my friend Aubrey was a traitor," I told him in a soft voice, trying not to lose it again, though it was extremely difficult holding back the hot tears and keeping my voice steady.

"She's the one who leaked information?" he asked me, obviously aware of the situation in a way I hadn't been until just a few minutes ago.

"I caught her in the act," I replied with a nod, drawn in by the worried, yet friendly, look on his face. Briefly, I explained what had happened, as Buffy drew further and further ahead of us.

"Where was Angel?" Connor asked when I finished speaking. "Usually he's in his office about now."

Flushing in embarrassment, I cleared my throat and wondered how much I should tell Angel's son. I didn't want to ruin Connor's opinion of his dad, like mine had been with my father. I still loved Dad, but I certainly didn't trust him unconditionally anymore. Not after I found out about his affair. Finally, I decided on the vague, "I think he was otherwise occupied." Rushing past that admission with a quick look to Buffy, ahead of me, I told Connor, "He came back before I could kill her."

"Was Spike with him?" Connor asked me, his tone almost exasperated.

"Yeah?"

"God," he sighed, annoyed. "I should have known that's where Spike disappeared to. Man, I'm glad I didn't sniff him out. Walking in on them once was scarring enough for a whole lifetime."

"Wait," I said, almost stopping, and then rushing to catch up as Connor followed Buffy through the hospital doors. Hissing a whisper, I asked Connor, "You know about them?"

"Sure," Connor replied in a matching whisper, his face scrunched up in confusion. "They live together. And let me tell you, I'm glad I didn't take Angel's offer to spend the summer in the other room of their suite. Yeurgh!"

And then, we were standing behind Buffy at Aubrey's bed, along with several others, including the two vampires in question. If Angel and Spike were together, as Connor had confirmed, what had I seen between Angel and Buffy? Life was just too weird for words at this point.

And then, I looked down at Aubrey, who was awake and strapped down tightly to the bed, catching my eye with intense fury. Well, fuck her, I thought, returning the angry look. She had no right to sell out girls like us, and then be that angry with me for stopping her. No right at all.

After a second, Xander and his slayer friend joined us, pushing Danny Truman ahead of them. The boy, Aubrey's twin I remembered vaguely, just about lost it when he saw his sister strapped down and almost snarling with fury.

"What's going on?" he demanded, turning first to Xander, and then Buffy.

"That's what we're here to find out," the head slayer replied, looking ready to catch him if he bolted. "First, Rita? Could you tell all of us again exactly what happened?"

Nodding and trying desperately to keep my eyes from flicking to meet either Aubrey's or Danny's, I told the story again, glossing over just how I had stumbled upon her.

Once I was done, Buffy waited for anyone else to ask a question, and then after a moment of silence, she turned to Aubrey, asking, "How did you get into my office? I know I locked it when I left."

The prisoner scoffed, "Like I would tell you anything. You're just going to kill me."

"I'm not gonna kill you," Buffy insisted, her voice holding a touch of humor like she thought it ridiculous that Aubrey would even think that of her. "We might talk about imprisonment or banishment, but I'm a big believer in killing only the non-human."

"What about these two?" she scowled, trying to nod her head to where Angel and Spike stood together, holding hands, I noticed with some surprise. Why hadn't I seen something like this before? Maybe if I had, hearing the two of them together wouldn't have been such a shock. But maybe then, I wouldn't have stumbled on Aubrey. Who was still talking, "... us about slaying vampires being some sort of sacred duty, and you're got two of 'em in the fucking castle with us."

"They're different," Buffy insisted, shooting them both a small smile. "They've got souls. Other demons don't. Simple enough," she declared with a shrug.

Aubrey just clamped her jaw shut and looked up at the ceiling, shaking her head slightly like she thought Buffy naïve or stupid.

"Anyways," Xander said, drawing Buffy's attention to Danny.

"Right, the brother," Buffy nodded, all but snapping her fingers. "Did you know about this?"

"No!" he insisted, shooting me a dirty look. "And I don't believe it. Rita's just being a bitch because she and my sister had a falling out." Connor shifted beside me like he wanted to say something, but I got there first.

"I'm not," I said determinedly, but then Spike went and stepped in.

"Heard the whole thing, Slayer," he insisted with a brash sniff. "This one admitted to passing on the lists."

"You were within earshot?" Buffy asked him. At his hesitant nod, Buffy continued, "Why didn't you help Rita capture her?"

"Well it took a mo," he said, looking back at Angel almost shyly, "for Ange and me to get decent."

"Oh, god," she groaned, just as annoyed as Connor had been. "Where were you doing it this time?" Buffy knew about them! And she didn't seem angry at all. Just frustrated in an amused sort of way.

"There's this secret panel," Angel began, pulling Spike back toward him, like he wanted a shield from Buffy's exasperation.

"Whatever," she shook her head with a smile. "I won't tell you again how you've got a perfectly good room, heck a whole set of rooms, with a perfectly good bed. Nope. Not telling you again."

Spike chuckled back at Angel, who somehow managed to smile and look chagrined at the same time. I shot a glance over to Connor, who looked almost embarrassed in that way all kids do when they realize their parents are just human and what it means when they act mushy together in public.

"Alright, Aubrey," Buffy changed gears with a sigh, taking a seat next to the hospital bed. "I really need to know who you gave this information to."

"No, you don't," my former friend insisted, setting her jaw again.

"Eugh. This is gonna take a while," Buffy groaned. Then, looking up, she spoke to Xander, "Xan? Will you and Renee take the boy somewhere else and keep an eye on him?"

"Sure thing, Summers," the slayer answered for the both of them, setting a heavy hand on Danny's shoulder and leading him from the room. As Buffy followed them with her eyes, she caught sight of Connor and me, still standing nearby. Without a word, Buffy caught Spike's eye and jerked her head toward us, making the vampire nod. As he strode toward us, Spike skated a hand over Buffy's shoulder briefly, and it struck me as a familiar gesture.

"C'mon, kiddies," the vampire said, herding me and Connor from the hospital wing and out into the hallway.

"What happens now?" I asked him, turning around as we got there. "Buffy said I could be there for the interrogation."

"Dunno, pet," Spike shrugged. "Maybe she's gonna do something she'd rather not set an example for, yeah?"

"Like what?" I demanded. Sure, Aubrey had betrayed me, had betrayed all of us. But I didn't want something truly awful to happen to her.

Sighing, Spike put his hands on his hips and looked me straight in the eye, intently, "You did the hard part, Slayer. Found out the baddie and all. Let Angel and Buffy take it from here."

"But how am I going to learn...?"

"There'll be other villains, believe me," he insisted, giving Connor a look as if asking for back up. "You're too close to this one."

With a frustrated groan, I turned away from both of them, needing to be somewhere, anywhere else, but Spike caught my arm, pulling me back in a gesture that reminded me of the day I'd stormed out of his classroom. "What?" I snapped harshly.

"I saw the tail end of your fight, Rita," he said gently, releasing my arm. "You were brilliant. Like a seasoned slayer almost."

"Really?" I asked, too flabbergasted to say anything else. Spike thought I'd fought well?

"Aye," he nodded sharply.

"I suppose," I said thoughtfully, "I was too hurt to really think about anything else. I sorta ... let go."

"Finally," he said with a teasing smile, before shooing the both of us away and returning to the hospital room interrogation.

"That's what I have to do, too," Connor told me as we turned and walked away toward the main staircase (no more shortcuts for me, thank you very much).

"What?"

"To fight," he clarified, pacing down the hallway in time with my ambling steps. "I have to just let everything else go, everything from my normal life that says violence is so not cool, and just ... be."

"That's very Zen of you," I muttered. "But I let go and almost strangled my friend to death, Connor."

"Yeah, killing humans, that's not something you can just forget afterward. Unless your Dad runs an evil law firm and gets them to erase your memory, of course."

"What?" I cried, turning to watch him. "Did that actually happen to you, or are you making shit up?"

"Honest to god," Connor replied, raising his hand in oath. "It's been a strange few years."

"But, you have your memories back?"

"Yep. Even have a whole bunch of fake memories to go along with my fake parents and my fake life."

"Where you go to college?"

Nodding before snapping his fingers suddenly, Connor told me, "Faith's coming in with a new batch tomorrow, and then I'm catching a ride back with her to the States. You should come say goodbye. Front hall, around four o'clock?"

"Wouldn't miss it," I assured him, waving as I headed up the stairs toward the north wing, and Connor went toward the south.

Finding I had too little energy and too many bruises to move quickly, I took the stairs one at a time, trying not to wince at my aching hip or the scratches on my face and arms. Oh, well. At least I'd had worse in training. Taking down and almost killing my friend wasn't as physically damaging as some of Spike's classes. It seemed fucking insane.

And Aubrey ... Aubrey! The one person who wasn't simply nice to me, but had really seemed to get me as a person – was a god damned _traitor_. Before she knew me, she'd given my name and my home to someone who probably would have killed me, and I wondered if she would do it again, now that she knew me. Then, I wondered if my parents were safe now that I was out of the country. I hoped so, and vowed to ask Buffy if there was some way we could find out for sure.

Walking down the hallway toward my room, completely lost in thought, I didn't notice the crowd gathering at one of the rooms until I was already on them. When one girl, whose name might have been Gia, grabbed my arm, I looked up to see at least eight girls staring at me. "Rita?" Gia demanded, shaking my arm. "Is it true?"

Taking a moment to process, and wondering if I'd heard correctly through Gia's thick Italian accent, I asked, "Is what true?"

"Sam said that Kiley heard from Jamie who said that Renee told her you captured a spy? A rogue slayer among us?"

Glancing around, I noticed that everyone's eyes were fixed on me, and I found it terrifying and electrifying at the same time. "I caught," I choked, clearing my throat. "I caught Aubrey leaking the names and locations of new slayers to someone."

"Aubrey Truman?" someone asked, and I nodded vigorously, so there wouldn't be confusion.

Several of them murmured in shock, quick glances being passed around as if everyone wanted to know if anyone else believed my story. To really hammer things home, I told them, "Buffy and Spike have her tied up in the hospital wing. And they're asking her all these questions."

"Oh my God," a short Hispanic-looking girl breathed at my right. "How did you manage to catch her?" she asked, and her tone implied that she knew, just like the rest of the school, how fucking awful I was at physical combat.

"I got her into a choke hold," I told them. "Or at least that's what I think they call it."

Nodding, Gia replied, "We haven't gotten that far in Combat, yet. Spike said later on in the year, maybe."

"Well I did it," I insisted. "I got my arm around her neck," I told them, acting it out again, my chest fluttering with a nauseating mix of remembered terror and current pride. All these girls watched in awe as I acted out the rest of the battle, more joining the group as I spoke. They made me tell the story over and over again as newcomers arrived, all of them wide-mouthed and wide-eyed. All for me.

It seemed wrong that I'd gotten this much attention for almost killing someone. It seemed wrong that I'd gotten this much attention at all. But I couldn't make myself turn it away. I couldn't give up these two seconds of fame, even though I should have. Slayers are supposed to be humble and hidden. Tasked with sacred duties, according to Buffy. Not basking in the glow of every victory. But, I figured I could take this first one, at least for a few minutes. And maybe through dinner.

* * *

Dawn found me as I left the cafeteria that night, pulling me aside on the second floor. "Can I talk to you, Rita?" she asked, and I readily agreed, given the excited look on her face. "Great, let's go chat in my room."

"Where's that?" I asked as we paced down the right-hand hallway from the big staircase.

Opening a big, heavy door, Dawn said, "Right here. Don't mind the mess. Most of it is Buffy's. Really."

"You share with your sister?" I asked, looking around the room, which wasn't at all like my dorm room upstairs. In fact, it wasn't even a bed room, but a living room with a floral-patterned sofa, a low coffee table covered in books and magazines, and a small TV in the corner.

"It's a suite," Dawn explained, leading me through the front room and back toward a door to the left. "This one's my room." She turned on the lights as I followed her in, watching as she cleared a pile of papers from her desk chair and set them on the floor before plopping on her bed.

I took the chair she'd vacated for me, and asked, "I already know what you want to talk about, don't I?"

Smiling, Dawn agreed, "I'm sure you do. I've already heard the story from Spike, so I know the gist of it. But I was wondering if anything I taught you helped?"

Shrugging, I said, "Maybe? It all happened so fast, you know?"

"Yeah," she agreed.

"I guess I did use some of your pointers about making each hit count, putting my weight behind the punches without losing my balance," I told her, slowly acting out the memorable punch to the side of Aubrey's head, while still sitting down. "I'm sure it helped."

"Good," she replied with a crisp nod. "I'm super glad. And, say? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," I agreed, wondering why Dawn Summers would want my permission to ask anything.

"Giles knows that we've been working together, and he said it would be a good idea," Dawn huffed, like she didn't know how to say it. Finally, she took a deep breath and asked, "Could I maybe be your actual Watcher? Like, from now on?"

"Really?" I asked, dumbstruck.

"Well, that's how it used to work," she insisted. "One Slayer, one Watcher. We've got so many Slayers and so few Watchers lately, it hasn't settled out that way. But I think it would be good for the both of us."

Dawn Summers wanted to be my Watcher! She thought me a good enough Slayer to latch onto me right away! I smiled. I beamed, I'm sure of it, even though I tried to hide my elation. With a surprised laugh, I told Dawn, "I don't know..." I teased her. "I might be able to find a Watcher with more experience."

Dawn looked mortified for just half a second before she caught the joking edge of my voice and smile and erupted into a peal of girlish laughter. "So, you'll do it?"

"Sure," I nodded, confident that we'd make a good working pair, and that there was plenty more that Dawn could teach me. "How different would things be?"

"Not very," she explained, "not while we're still in school. But we'll train more often. And I can probably get you out of a lot of Spike's lessons."

"Oh my God," I cried, wanting to jump up and hug her. "That would be awesome!"

Dawn laughed and threw a small pillow at me, which I caught easily. Damn, I really was getting better at being a Slayer, wasn't I?

Then, I thought of how all this had started, and I asked Dawn, "What's happening with Aubrey? Did Buffy find out anything more?"

"Not that I heard," she shrugged. "But sometimes I'm out of the loop when it comes to things Buffy doesn't want me exposed to. I keep telling her that I'm nineteen, and I don't need her to protect me, but after the whole giant episode, it's like she doesn't want to let me out of her sight."

"Giant episode?" I asked, wondering what monumental event had happened that would make Dawn's sister wary of letting Dawn out of her sight.

"Oh, that's right!" Dawn laughed. "You weren't here yet. Last year, I slept with the wrong boy and got turned into a giant."

"What? How?"

"Just, promise me you'll never date a thricewise," she insisted, rolling her eyes.

"If I knew what one was, I could follow your advice."

"Oh, the things you'll learn with me as your Watcher," Dawn giggled, and I joined her in laughing at the idea.

She wanted me to be her Slayer, to work with me and help me fight the forces of evil. Like stupid two-faced friends who betrayed your trust. I hoped beyond reason that Dawn wasn't one of those friends, but she seemed trustworthy. Also, it helped that she was Buffy's sister, and seemed to want to live up to Buffy's larger-than-life reputation as a hero. As someone good.

So I felt pretty confident that Dawn Summers was someone I could trust, with my friendship, with my progress as a Slayer, and in the long run, with my life. That should be good enough, shouldn't it?

* * *

As I made my way to the front hall the next afternoon, I ran into Faith, jogging down the big staircase behind me with a call, "Wait up, Oregon."

"Hey," I greeted her with a smile. "I heard you'd be back today."

Faith returned my smile, clapping me on the shoulder as she said, "And I heard that someone's been living up to her potential."

"Only a little bit," I insisted, waving at Gia and her friend as they passed us in the hall. "Come back next week and I'm sure to have screwed up again."

"Nah," she disagreed as we joined Fred and Xander in the front hallway, "you've got good people looking out for you."

"What about you?" I asked, noticing a deep bruise on one of her arms.

"Well now that you put that bitch away," she replied, rubbing said bruise, "my job should get easier. Maybe you should think about joining me, once you're done with the rank and file here."

"I'd like that," I nodded, realizing it as I said it. "I'll have to talk to Dawn about it."

"How come?" she asked, and I told Faith about gaining an official Watcher (in training) all to myself.

Shaking her head, Faith shrugged and said, "I never found much use for a Watcher, but then look how I turned out. Good for you, Rita."

"Thanks," I said, watching as Connor approached, with several people in tow.

"Hey, Rita," Connor smiled at me. I didn't think you'd come, what with being this places' latest celebrity."

In a joking tone, I said with a shrug, "I like to make time for the little people."

Connor laughed before sticking out his hand so I could shake it, which I did. "It was nice meeting you, slayer."

"You too," I replied lamely.

"Look out for everyone?" he asked me as our grips parted and I stuck my hands in my back pockets, just to have somewhere to put them.

I replied to Connor's question with a quick nod. Though capturing Aubrey was really the first (big) thing I'd done right here, I was determined not to let it be the last.

Giving me one last nod, Connor moved on to saying goodbye to everyone else. He waved at Dawn, Willow and Xander, he hugged Fred, and he kissed Buffy on the cheek. Then, when he got to Spike, Connor held out his hand to shake, but the vampire wasn't having any of it. He grabbed Connor by the back of the neck, and pulled him into a proper hug. He clapped the boy's back once, twice, ... three times, and said something quietly before releasing Connor, who nodded with a smile.

When Connor got to Angel, they hugged a little awkwardly, but as they parted, Angel kept his hand on Connor's shoulder, like he was trying to keep him there. "Let me know if you ever need anything, okay?" Angel insisted.

"Yeah, okay, Dad," Connor nodded, waiting for Angel to release his shoulder before he dropped to pick up his bag. "I'll see you by next summer, for sure."

"Uh-huh," Angel nodded, looking to his left when Spike grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together. "Do well."

"C'mon," Connor scoffed with a grin. "This is me we're talking about!"

Shaking his head, Angel said, "Get outta here," using a fake exasperated tone that made his son laugh and shake his head. In farewell, Faith squeezed my arm and led the way out.

After a moment in which they shared a last smile, Connor walked toward where Faith waited at the door and left, calling back at the last moment, "Love you too, Dad."

Angel's sigh made me wonder if Connor would even make it back next year, and then when I might see my parents again. Parents' weekend was in two months, and they were planning to come visit, the last I'd heard. And I found myself surprised that it wasn't the only thing I was looking forward to. Not even by half.

* * *

_A/N: That's it, folks! I hope you enjoyed this episode, as I certainly enjoyed writing it. If you'd like, please leave a review or a favorite (or both!). Thanks!_

_The next episode is called "Legacy" and should already be posted, for your reading enjoyment. _

_Legacy: Spike, driven by odd visions, leads Angel, Fred and Xander to a small New England town. Can they solve the mystery brewing here before more women die? Post-NFA/Chosen. Angel/Spike, Fred/Xander friendship._


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